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EARLIER 

AND 

LATER POEMS 

(revised and enlarged edition) 



BY 



EDWARD OCTAVUS FLAGG. D.D.,LL.D. 



% 



NEW-YORK 
THOMAS WHITTAKER 

2 AND 3 BIBLE HOUSE 
I906 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two CoDies Received 

APR 24 1906 

A Copyright Entry 
CL/SS 01 XXc. No, 
COPY B. 






Copyright, 1890, 1895, 1906, by 
Thomas Whittaker. 



THE DE VINr 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



A Comrade 197 

A Dog's Death ..... .\ n . 176 

A Hypercritical World— From the Afghan 224 

A National Hymn v. .-.■ 319 

A Sail-boat .- 295 

A Skilful Harpist 320 

A Trust 190 

A Word 160 

Acrostic— Alpha Delta Phi 80 

Advent 405 

Alfred the Great 365 

Alpha Delta Phi Poem 55 

An April Rain 401 

An Incident at Hotel St. George, St. Augustine, Fla. 314 

An Old Man's Apostrophe to Death 323 

Aspiration 329 

At a Banquet of the Sons of the Revolution 216 

At Quogue 286 

Atheism 268 

Be Lowly, O Christian ! 232 

Beautiful Hudson 258 

Bid Your Troubles Flee Away 296 

Calamity 229 

Cast Anchor 260 

Central Park in Winter 37i 

Charleston Revisited 367 

Cheerful Labor 357 



in 



iv Contents 

PAGE 

Children and the Church 211 

Chimes 331 

Christmas 105 

Christmas Carol ( 1 ) 93 

Christmas Carol (2) 95 

Christmas Carol (3) 109 

Christmas Holidays 413 

Christmas Meditations 91 

Clouds 282 

Coincidence 348 

Compassion 289 

Conjugality 196 

Conscience 299 

Consolation 324 

Content 358 

Darkness that can be Felt 332 

"Death is Swallowed up in Victory" 203 

Dedication of an Album 265 

Defence 331 

Dies Ir^e 200 

Diversity in Unity 437 

Does the Poet Live ? 184 

Easter Carol ( 1 ) 115 

Easter Carol (2) 280 

Eighteen Ninety-five 288 

Epithalamium 4 2 3 

Farewell to March 396 

Farewell to St. James' Church, Wilmington, N. C... 388 
First in Peace, First in War, First in the Hearts 

of His Countrymen 248 

Floral Tribute to A A * yy 

Gathering Wild Flowers 428 

Gems from the Afghan Poets 312 

General Von Moltke 166 



Contents v 

PAGE 

" God is Love " 104 

God of Wisdom 35 1 

Gold 316 

Greater New York 337 

Greeting to Prince Henry of Prussia 364 

Hail We All the Gladsome Hour 205 

" Hang the Wreath upon the Wall " 108 

Heaven 353 

Henry George 363 

" Hope Maketh Not Ashamed " 213 

How Few Are Left 290 

Hymn— Divine Pleasures 343 

Hymn to Service 300 

I Cannot and I Can 334 

I Look Beyond 255 

I Love My Church 210 

Impression and Expression 312 

Individuality 227 

In Memory of Lionel Chalmers Nowell 434 

In Memory of Phillips Brooks 191 

In Memory of Rear Admiral John W. Philip 435 

In Memory of the Late Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D. D. 253 

In My Father's House are Many Mansions 346 

Judge Not 322 

" Law " 308 

Laying the Corner-stone of the " Mail and Express " 393 

Let Down the Bars 186 

Life as it is 251 

Life in Death 247 

Light from the Manger 107 

Live it Down 283 

Long Ago , 298 

Long Island .....-.,. 292 

Lord Tennyson ,,.,.,.,. 167 



vi Contents 

PAGE 

March on, March on, America ! 441 

Memory 318 

Missionary Hymn 341 

Moderate Aim s 198 

Moonlight at Ridgefield 195 

Motive 317 

Mount Washington 374 

Mr. Nobody 329 

My Canary 179 

My Faith 309 

My First Parish 389 

My Flowers 263 

My Friend 170 

My Old Teacher 386 

My World Within 281 

Never Despair 273 

No North, No South 277 

November Musings 169 

Ode to Staten Island 243 

" Old Hickory " 33 

Old Home Week Poem 408 

Omnipresence 208 

On a Southern Churchyard 385 

Ox Hearing Handel's Oratorio of "The Messiah" 338 
On Hearing the Evening Gun at Quarantine, Staten 

Island 262 

On Presenting a Floral Horseshoe to a Bride 272 

On Seeing a Picture of Homeward Laborers at 

Prayer 270 

On the Death of a True Man 206 

On the Death of Longfellow 219 

On the Death of Nathaniel Smith Richardson, D.D. 239 

On the New Version of the Scriptures 275 

On Turner's " Ancient Carthage " 301 



Contents vu 

PAGE 

On Viewing a Picture Entitled " The Empty 

Stocking " 97 

Otonda— An Indian Story 135 

Parting Hymn 204 

Parting Hymn at the Van Norman Institute 267 

Phi Kappa— Resurgemus 81 

Pleasure 344 

Queen Victoria 436 

Rain 177 

Reason and Revelation 207 

Refinement 279 

Renewal of Work on the Pedestal 222 

Reply to Alfred Austin's Greeting to America 429 

Reveries on Virginia Beach 173 

Revocation 293 

Self-Conquest 287 

Self-denial 440 

Shakespeare the Immortal 361 

Song of Labor 354 

Song of the Open Camp (i) 126 

Song of the Open Camp (2) 127 

Song of the Open Camp (3) 128 

Song to a Classical River Yclept Hogg 390 

" Sound the Trumpet to the Sky " 106 

Stanley's March 284 

Star of Bethlehem, Ever Shine 111 

St. Hubert's Isle ( 1 ) 123 

St. Hubert's Isle (2) 125 

Take No Thought for the Morrow 245 

Teachers of Immortality 214 

Thanksgiving 411 

Thanksgiving Day 409 

That Old Spanish Bell 381 

The Air of Siasconset 259 



viii Contents 

PAGE 

The Attributes of God— From the Afghan 350 

The Awakening of Spring 400 

The Babe of Bethlehem 103 

The Bear in the Adirondack^ 129 

The Bell Buoy 237 

The Best Protector 291 

The Better Side 211 

The Birth of Happiness 399 

The Breaker 236 

The Chariots of Pharaoh 375 

The Daughters of the Revolution 162 

The Distant Bells 333 

The Dreaded Island 171 

The Dying Rose 231 

The Easter Song 116 

The Englishman and the Scot 182 

" The Far-away Look " 187 

The Flowers in Boston Public Garden 174 

The Gravity of Humor 397 

The Hearth-fire 404 

The Hero of Calve 360 

The Hidden Cross 235 

The Hoboken Tracedy 304 

The Horse 181 

The Horse Shall Not Go 306 

The Lion's Feast 156 

The Living Death 305 

The Lord's Prayer 177 

The Magdalen's Prayer 265 

The Maine Catastrophe 370 

The Message of the Bells 118 

The Octogenarian's Lament 185 

The Old Looking-glass 394 

The Old Village Church 379 



Contents j x 



PAGE 

The Open Door 285 

The Pranks of Verse 4I 3 

The Prayer of Agar 3^7 

The Prodigal Son 3 

The Public School 294 

The Reaper's Song 340 

The Rebuff . . '. 303 

The Seventieth Birthday of William Tecumseh 

Sherman 167 

The Shadow on the Wall 402 

The Silent Marcfi 241 

The Silkworm 214 

The Soul of Love 193 

The Spencer School of Stenography and Type- 
writing '. 372 

The Storm Spirit 194 

The Sun's Message 416 

The Tomb of Joseph Rodman Drake 242 

The Unforgotten 403 

The Waccamaw 189 

The Wedding of the Harlem and the Hudson 366 

The Winds 271 

The Workman's Home 356 

There and Here 326 

" Those We Remember " 199 

Thoughts on Visiting the Grave of General Ulysses 

S. Grant 233 

To a Bereaved Friend 101 

To a Distinguished Physician on His Seventy- 
second Birthday 183 

To a Friend after a Long Absence 180 

To a Friend Born on Christmas Day 96 

To a Young Actress 425 

To Am herst 426 



x Co?itents 

PAGE 

To an Easter Lily 117 

To Bessie, My Elder Daughter 256 

To Dean and Mrs. Eugene A Hoffmann 430 

To Frances Marion Miller 433 

To Mr. Frederick A. Talmage 427 

To Sallie, My Younger Daughter 257 

To the Apple 421 

To the Capitol at Washington 164 

To the Misses Eddy 43 1 

To the Rev. W. N. Dunnell, D. D 438 

Tongue and Eyes 328 

Uncrowned Kings 192 

Vain Regrets 240 

Visions of the New Year 310 

War 406 

Washington Monument 377 

Why Murmur ? 345 

Winter 249 

Wit and Reason 336 

Work 355 

Work for Love and Duty 78 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 





THE PRODIGAL SON. 



HOME of old enchained the eye 
Of those its charms might see ; 
Parental kindness wove a tie, 
From formal rule set free. 
The wearied, there enticed to rest, 
Could find some spell to soothe the breast. 



In pride the brilliant lily grew, 
Which paled the monarch's sheen, 

When gorgeous clad he met the view 
Of Sheba's noted queen. 

Cool zephyrs fanned where fountains played, 

And sweetest bird-notes rilled the glade. 



The Prodigal Son. 

in 

No careless wish, at random sent> 

Was ever breathed in vain, 
And cunning skill, with kind intent, 

Stood near to baffle pain. 
'T would seem one scarce could wish for more, 
On earth, than blessed that home of yore. 

IV 

But strange, there dwells in wayward man 

A demon ill at ease, 
Howe'er contrivance lays its plan, 

The changeful whim to please — 
The word of fondness, winning smile, 
Can ne'er from purpose rash beguile* 



An elder son, severe and sage, 

Endued with self-control, 
Sought first to nurse a father's age, 

And never wished to stroll 
From scenes, wherein, his childhood reared, 
The ripening hours had more endeared. 

VI 

Like nestling, beating half-formed-wing, 
Assaying flight in vain, 



The Prodigal Son. 

His brother scorned joy's well-known spring, 

Forbidden fruits to gain. 
Impatient, like a mastiff bound, 
He filled the air with doleful sound. 

VII 

To sire indulgent thus he spake, 

In tone unfilial, rude : 
My portion give, and let me break 

From scenes in which long mewed. 
'T is hard to bear restraint unmeet ; 
I wish a stirring world to greet." 

VIII 

This heedless youth, with skill untried, 

Would tempt a stormy wave, 
While those who oft have stemmed the tide 

Dare not such billow brave. 
The early buds too soon will die, 
And fledglings fall that strive to fly. 

IX 

Thus ever man insults that Will, 

Obeyed, revered above : 
Yea, whispered accents mild and still, 

Embalmed in Jesus' love ; 
Distrustful as to daily bread, 
Though like the sparrow, constant fed. 



The Prodigal Son. 

x 

Since every effort proved but vain, 

To reach such truant mind, 
The father, fraught with heartfelt pain 

That love had ceased to bind, 
Though deeply moved his child to save, 
The portion sought, reluctant gave. 

XI 

'T is thus, while leads that Shepherd's crook 
Which guides to pastures green, 

Those deaf through sin, no longer brook 
A counsel wise, serene. 

Permission tempts a soul awry, 

Its own inventions crude to try. 

XII 

This younger brother sees a life 

Of pleasure, half-revealed, — 
Those pastimes which with death are rife, 

Whose poison lies concealed, — 
A thoughtless boy let loose from school, 
Deriding all restrictive rule. 

XIII 

Endowed with means to suit his ends, 
Inconstant fancy please, 



The Prodigal Son. 

His mind perverted, close he bends, 

The shortest route to seize, 
By which to gain the perfumed heights, 
Where sweet Hymettus yields delights. 

XIV 

He would some " far off country " seek, 

Unvexed by precepts sage, 
Where healthful warnings should not preach, 

From lips of hoary age. 
He longed to roam in sunny lands, 
'Mid mirth, and song, and sarabands. 

xv 

The sinner's haunts are far away 

From God's serene domain; 
'Mid riot, pomp and roundelay, 

Where madness waits on pain, 
Those Saturnalia, wild and deep, 
In which both law and virtue sleep. 

XVI 

With lavish hand he strewed the wealth, 

His father kind bestowed. 
He lightly ventured name and health, 

While free the goblet flowed. 
The gold, long stored with frugal care, 
Exhaled like mist that melts in air. 



The Prodigal Son. 

XVII 

With forethought drugged, he tossed the dice, 

To artful rogues a prey : 
In secret, where the gamester's vice 

Abhors the light of day. 
By guile allowed, he won at first, 
Till deep decoyed, he fared the worst. 

XVIII 

Attired in fashion's raiment new, 

Of costly fabrics made; 
He oft appeared in varied hue, 

With silly dress parade. 
By foppish trappings' tawdry glare, 
He sought to make plebeians stare. 

XIX 

He roamed in halls of marble white, 
Enriched with bronze and gold, 

Where windows flashing mingled light, 
Devices quaint unfold — 

Gay nymphs and satyrs oft descried, 

'Mid columns, bas-reliefs beside. 

xx 

Fair vases pleased, of Egypt's art, 
Surpassing later skill, 



The Prodigal So//. 

And Grecian taste performed its part, 

Some favored niche to fill ; 
The painter spread a wanton charm, 
That gilded vice and augured harm. 

XXI 

The seas were dragged, the woods explored, 

Which dainty food supplied. 
Choice wines, that clusters rich afford, 

Out flowed, a crimson tide. 
Attendants grave, a dusky band, 
Obeyed at once their lord's command. 

XXII 

In splendid chariot swift he rode, 

By prancing coursers drawn, 
Equipped in latest courtly mode, 

They swept across the lawn — 
Ambitious in his paltry lust, 
To revel 'mid a cloud of dust. 

XXIII 

The syren Pleasure lured him on, 

To vilest haunts of crime, 
Till shame had left its youthful throne,- 

That shield which guards our prime. 
He sacrificed life's sacred hours 
To Vice that haunts voluptuous bowers. 



io The Prodigal Son. 

xxiv 

A dulcet voice entranced his ear, 
Like chiming water's flow. 

He deemed no lurking evil near, 
Presaging future woe. 

As beauty spun her subtle thread, 

Defeated resolution fled. 

XXV 

At game he lost, yet still he played, 
Until his hoard was gone. 

His summer friends their exit made, 
And left him all alone. 

A helpless wreck on fortune's main, 

No beacon rose to cheer again. 

XXVI 

To drown remorse he quaffed the bowl, 
While imps shrieked through the air, 

As reason fled beyond control, 
Uprose a lurid glare ; 

And when deep tolled the midnight bell, 

Before him yawned avenging hell. 

XXVII 

By want distressed, he sought for aid, 
Of those his purse had shared, 



The Prodigal Son. 1 1 

But quick did summer friends evade 

His suit — nor e'en had cared 
Should he, so kind when they applied, 
Through such ingratitude have died. 

XXVIII 

A mighty famine smote the land, 

Scant fruits the harvest bore. 
'T was so when great Jehovah's hand 

Had Israel scourged of yore ; 
When men despised those terms benign, 
Declared by seer, upheld by sign. 

XXIX 

: A citizen " 't is told he found 

Amid his sorry plight, 
Who soon to vilest service bound 

This man that scorned the right. 
He sent him to the sty to feed 
The unclean brute of sateless greed. 

XXX 

And could he, stricken thus, still rove, 



Yet longer leave his home ? 
Despised and scorned, neglect that love, 

Whence madly lured to roam ? 
Did Folly tread its thorny way, 
Unblessed by Duty's filial ray ? 



12 The Prodigal Son. 



XXXI 



So weak are all apart from God, 

Sad wanderers o'er the earth, 
They lightly heed correction's rod, 

Impugn their heavenly birth. 
But harder yet the lot in store, 
For Crime will scourge them more and more. 

XXXII 

What thoughts within, conflicting burned, 
When pondering o'er his fate, — 

To swineherd's menial labor turned, 
From rich and envied state ! 

Alas, the baneful fruits of sin ! 

Such prize do Pleasure's suitors win. 

XXXIII 

Can Jew descend to this gross task, 
Take charge of loathsome beast, 

Whose flesh no hind would stoop to ask 
For meanest Hebrew feast ? 

Those demon-haunted go-betweens, 

Where dwelt the heathen Gadarenes! 

XXXIV 

Behold a step beyond, Vice leads 
One duped through self-deceit. 



The Prodigal Son. 13 

Devouring hunger loudly pleads 

For husks the swine did eat. 
But e'en such boon no hand would give, 
That this poor famished wretch might live. 

XXXV 

No better lot mere Sense bestows, 

On such as woo her joys ; 
From worse to worse the victim goes, 

As Satan's art decoys. 
Those bound to flesh who slight God's will, 
With world husks ne'er can have their fill. 

XXXVI 

Now turn aside from this sad scene, 

With sacred lessons fraught ; 
In hope that all God's care may screen, 

From joys by ruin bought ; 
And let the heart its strength renew, 
As brighter prospects meet the view. 

XXXVII 

'Neath yonder tall and beauteous tree, 

With branches spreading wide, 
Inviting by its shade, to flee 

From heat and traffic's tide, — 
Behold a feeble, outstretched form, — 
A stranded bark in life's rude storm. 



14 The Prodigal Son. 

XXXVIII 

He wears a garb of coarsest kind, 
His feet are bruised and bare, 

The stifled, sighing, dirge-like wind 
Uplifts his silken hair. 

Too soon the marks of age appear, 

For Time could leave few tokens here, 

xxxix 

His features, formed of classic mold, 
Were once a parent's pride ; — 

Misguided friends their beauty told, 
While worth was laid aside. 

Indulgence, mark the fatal end 

To which thy unsafe guidings tend ! 

XL 

The tearful eyelids oft o'erflow, 
'Mid bursts of poignant grief, 

As though the soul, oppressed with woe, 
Could never find relief. 

A weeping child again we see, 

In him abased beneath yon tree. 

XLI 

Reproaches come from every brute 
Which uncomplaining feeds, — 



The Prodigal So?i. 15 

Content, enforced in language mute, 

With what supplies our needs ; — 
He learns how all God's creatures thrive, 
Who by His law submissive live. 

XLII 

" Unto himself" he now has come, 

His manhood's nobler self. 
A blessing sober thought has won, 

Transcending fame or pelf. 
The grief he cannot longer bear 
A bliss enfolds, which angels share. 

XLIII 

He muses, how the hireling bands, 

That serve his sire's full board, 
Best food enjoy the yielding lands 

In harvest rich afford ; 
While famished he, with portion fled, 
Could claim no place to rest his head. 

XLIV 

A late repentance melts his heart, 

And bends his stubborn will ; 
Deep yearnings, long repressed, upstart, 

Nor shame nor fear can chill. 
They bid an injured parent seek, 
So just and yet withal so meek. 



1 6 The Prodigal Son. 

XLV 

" I will," the truant says, " arise, 
And to my father go. 
Will say, ' My sin to heaven cries, 

A sin that brings thee woe. 
Thy servant make me, call not son 
An ingrate who such wrong hath done.' " 

XLVI 

A parent's love no tongue can tell, 

'T is like the ocean deep, 
Which laves the shore with ceaseless swell, 

It cannot pause nor sleep. 
'T is like the changeless stars above, 
That never from their orbits move. 

XLVI I 

Fit pattern He, who came to earth, 

From yon supernal home, 
To save the lost of mortal birth, 

That fitful, foolish roam, — 
With ardor chasing bubbles thin, 
Which dance and lure to haunts of sin. 

XLVI n 

And ah, 't is oft the wandering child 
Towards which the parent leans; 



The Prodigal Son. ij 



Although to darkest deeds beguiled, 

This ne'er affection weans. 
He sees, perchance, a fairer side 
At times to reckless faults allied. 

XLIX 

Thus pause we o'er some statue old, 

Despite its broken grace, 
Disfigured long by envious mold, 

On hand, on foot, on face, — 
Which, yet a power of genius shows, 
No common work can e'er disclose. 



And so to Israel's bard of yore, 

Though stained with dreadful crime, 

Jehovah tender feeling bore 
For David's love sublime. 

His judgment Mercy soon effaced, 

As this bright gem beneath he traced. 

LI 

Thus lenient he, in saddest mood, 
Whose son, long since away, 

His father's counsel, sage, withstood, 
In distant lands to stray. 

A void remained both dark and chill, 

His brother strove in vain to fill. 



1 8 The Prodigal Son. 

LII 

The gently sighing wind is fraught 
With eastern odors rare, 

While many a gift is kindly brought 
To banish dull despair. 

The father's spirit cannot rise ; 

A cloud obscures the radiant skies ! 



LIII 

But now the son, with heart elate, 

His tears replaced by smiles, 
Sets forth for home, with quickened gait, 

Surmounting weary miles. 
As storm-tossed birds to covert fly, 
This hapless youth did thither hie. 

LIV 

Thus hasten those by conscience pressed, 
Who grace once lost would win ; 

To seek again the slighted rest, 
And life anew begin. 

They eager tread the narrow way, 

Through many a gloomy, lengthened day. 

LV 

'Mid drear and rock-ribbed wastes he toiled, 
And frightening dangers braved, 



The Prodigal Son. 19 

His scanty garb was torn and soiled, 

While food he vainly craved. 
His feeble limbs, his meager form, 
Could scarce withstand the driving storm. 

LVI 

At each advance his nerve had failed, 

His strength had given o'er, 
For fortune's blasts had oft assailed, 

And ills remained in store. 
Yet Fancy sketched dear scenes beyond — 
His soul could never quite despond. 

LVII 

His only bed the dismal ground, 

His roof the vault above ; 
His hardships so extreme he found, 

'Gainst desperate thoughts he strove. 
But soon the light of opening day, 
Restored fond trust with blessed ray. 

LVIII 

The via dolorosa One, 

With bleeding footstep trod, — 
And he must choose that path alone, 

That seeks again his God ; 
If recreant e'er in noblest strife, 
Which gains the boon of endless life. 



20 The Prodigal Son. 

LIX 

At last his native haunts are seen, 
As they were wont to charm; 

Each well-known spot in memory green, 
Aloof from worldly harm. 

Kind welcomes float from bird and rill, 

With echoed strains 'mid glade and hill. 

LX 

Oh, most refreshing, blissful sight, 

In all this world of ours — 
A gleam of once familiar light, 

From early cherished bowers ; 
When years have passed since youth essayed 
To leave the home where childhood played. 

LXI 

And nought delights the vision more, — 
When long from fostering care 

Of Christian nurture, heavenly lore, 
In sin's remorseless snare, — 

Than light from that unshadowed clime, 

Where seraph voices greetings chime. 

LXII 

And now, as mourning ewe perceives 
The lost returned from far, 



The Prodigal Son. 

While dingle, brake and shadowing leaves 

Her sense can ne'er debar, — 
Through features changed, and plight forlorn, 
The father knows his younger born. 

LXIII 

And as fond ewe, without delay, 

Leaps forth her lamb to meet, 
No longer will that father stay, 

But hastes his son to greet. 
He clasps" and kisses once again, 
The child who caused him anxious pain. 

LXIV 

Our condescending Parent kind, 

That light of every home, 
The contrite soul will always find, 

Howe'er it choose to roam. 
A pardoning kiss, a sweet embrace, 
Will yet the chiding past efface. 

LXV 

The wanderer speaks, he pleads, " Forgive, 

Dear father, him who kneels, 
A culprit base, unfit to live, 

And who just vengeance feels. 
Thy servant make me, call not son, 
A disobedient, faithless one." 



21 



22 The Prodigal Son. 

LXVI 

Observe how he o'erlooks the past, 

This soul oppressed relieves, 
What guerdon binds repentance fast, 

How dear its blest reprieves ! 
No menial office will be given, 
To one reclaimed from earth to heaven. 

LXVII 

He shall not wear those rags debased, 

A purple robe is brought, 
A ring is on his finger placed, 

Of finest gold, well wrought. 
His unprotected feet in shoes 
No thorns can pierce, no stones will bruise. 

LXVIII 

The slave to freeman's state advanced, 
A robe and ring could claim. 

Fit symbols these of lives enhanced 
From servile walks of shame ; 

When man by sin no longer bound, 

Through faith released, in Christ is found. 

LXTX 

The fatted calf must leave his stall, 
To bleed for this event. 



The Prodigal Son. 2 % 

To boon companions one and all, 
A summons far is sent. 
" The dead now lives, the lost is found, 
Oh, spread the glorious tidings round." 



LXX 

The happy parent cannot keep 
Within his surcharged breast, 

A pleasure fraught with import deep, 
The homestead once more blest, — 

But wide proclaims, his truant one 

Is now again an honored son. 

LXXI 

As bidden guests are glad below 
Through God's mysterious ways, 

Most thrilling notes responsive flow 
Where rise celestial lays ; 

Since e'en when one repentant sues, 

Rejoicing angels bear the news. 

LXXI I 

The tabret sends a merry sound, 

The harp, the viol too, 
The gleesome strains afar rebound, 

Where smiles each sylvan view; 
The long deserted chambers ring, 
As friends elated dance and sing. 



24 The Prodigal Son. 

LXXIII 

And where dwells he of cynic mold, 
Who chides such harmless mirth ? 

Does festal warmth a serpent cold 
In envy wake from earth ? 

No feast without its specter grim, 

To dash the bowl e'er reached the brim. 



LXXIV 

As night steals on, the elder born 

Pursues his homeward way, 
While mingling sounds not heard at morn, 

His eager footsteps stay. 
He asks why orgies loud intrude, 
To mock the evening solitude. 

LXXV 

Surprised he learns, quite safe and sound 

That brother long away, 
Within his father's home now found, 

Awakens scenes so gay ; — 
The dance, the song, the shouts of glee, 
From neighbors glad his face to see. 

LXXVI 

As flashes, 'thwart the cloudy sky, 
Precede a storm's descent, 



The Prodigal Son. 25 

So gathering gleams within his eye 

Show anger's fierce intent. 
He, unfraternal, will not come 
To share his brother's joy at home. 

LXXVII 

But, like our Lord, persistent, kind 

To those that mocked his name, 
Who turned so oft the wayward mind 

From stubborn, vengeful frame, 
With mild entreaties seeks his sire, 
To curb this restless, chafing ire. 

LXXVIII 

" For many years," declares the son, 
" Thee faithful I have served, 
Of thy commandments broken none. 

From duty never swerved, 
Yet e'en a kid has not been slain, 
In proof that I thy rule sustain. 

LXXIX 

" But when, by many a harlot vile, 
Thy gains have been devoured, 
Upon a spendthrift thou dost smile, 
And greetings fond are showered. 
Though naught is done in my behalf, 
For him is killed the fatted calf." 



26 The Prodigal Son. 

LXXX 

The sire would such harsh thoughts allay, 

And motives just outline : 
" Son, near me thou dost ever stay, 

And all I have is thine. 
But now o'erjoyed we feast within, 
Because a soul is saved from sin." 

LXXXI 

'T would seem the elder's sharp complaint 
Was urged by sense of right, 

But different when the facts we paint 
Reflecting gospel light. 

Broad truth disdains that narrow cell, 

Wherein vain mortal judgments dwell. 



LXXXI I 

The first-born brother, — stern and cold 

Emotion kept at bay, 
Imagined (cast in moral mold) 

His logic sure must sway, 
Where one, to passion's spur a slave, 
Had dared a parent's will to brave. 



LXXXIII 



He never felt the power of love 
To render service meet ; 



The Prodigal Son. 27 

That found, the simplest act will move 

At gentle Mercy's feet. 
Affection's aid he could not blend 
With those their broken lives would mend. 

LXXXIV 

The Scribe, and Pharisee of old, 

Claimed pardon as a debt, 
Their acts of merit loud were told, 

'Gainst each transgression set. 
So sought the formal son to place 
The law above God's boundless grace. 

LXXXV 

The father, like the gospel's Lord, 

While pleased with service strict, 
To love would pardon swift accord, 

Though justice might conflict. 
We thus discern free grace is shown, 
That comes from God's eternal throne. 

LXXXVI 

Our story treats of ways divine, 

For all o'ercome with sin, 
It doth a tender wish enshrine, 

The soul misled to win. 
May matchless solace touch the deeps, 
Where unconsoled repentance weeps. 



2& The Prodigal Son. 

LXXXVII 

Lone child of frailty, long hath strayed 
In crime's unhallowed path ? 

By habit chained, art sore dismayed 
At black impending wrath ? 

Art crushed to earth, despised, forlorn, 

No heart to rise 'mid social scorn ? 

LXXXVII I 

Dost weep for sin's reproachful dye, 

For highest trust misused ? 
Doth waked contrition heave a sigh, 

For choicest friend abused ? 
Wouldst yet repair that shattered life, 
So oft depressed with thickening strife ? 

LXXXIX 

Then think of him in woful form, 

Who left pollution's mire. 
He saw a bow above the storm, 

A patience naught could tire. 
Repentance won a robe and ring, 
Made happy neighbors dance and sing. 

xc 

Quick yield thy swineherd's wretched lot, 
And fly to sheltering home, 



The Prodigal Son. 29 

Where absent ones are ne'er forgot 

By Him who bids us come. 
A ring of freedom waits thee there, 
A spotless robe thou too canst wear. 

xci 

The merry heart of Christian thine, 

Beneath an ample roof, 
No need of feast, of song, of wine, 

To aid Redemption's proof, — 
But o'er thy brow a halo bright, 
Will tell of changeless, pure delight. 

xcn 

Pray, never suffer evil eye, 

A brother's faults to view, 
When purest saints, with thoughts on high, 

Indulgence humbly sue. 
Without the Christ-atoning hand, 
The test of justice none can stand. 

XCIII 

Thus He who treasured Mary's tears, 

Did Peter frail forgive, 
Will quiet all tumultuous fears, 

Will cause the soul to live, — 
Where faith and charity combined, 
Rich fruits of hope shall ever find. 



30 The Prodigal Son. 

XCIV 

And ah, corroding envy shun, 
When others win the race. 

If they with footstep fleet outrun, 
'T were wise to mend the pace. 

Unfair to grudge the better meed, 

That well befits the better deed. 



xcv 

And view not with contracted look, 
This life — the Church — the State, 

Each seeming difference mildly brook 
On God content to wait; 

Convinced that He in future years 

Will make more plain what dark appears. 

xcvi 

And ye who would improve mankind, 

Would point the better way, 
Recall that father's constant mind, 

Unwearied by delay. 
Let Love's inspiring flame still burn, 
Although a son should not return ! 



OLD HICKORY." 




OLD HICKORY.' : 



THE HERO OF NEW ORLEANS. 




Y story is of one inflexible, 
A hero of the kind our rights obtained ; 
From Caledonian stock, of fibre wrought 
That makes the thistle proudly vie 
Amid the emblems for a nation's crest. 
A Stewart's or Macgregor's blood he would 
Have honored through achievement coronal. 



His sire a Scot — the old Palmetto State 

Of earlier life scenes was his theater ; 

With education slight — his character 

Was formed 'mid dangers where the savage prowled 

Adventurous were his training years, and on 

The future was their import deep inscribed. 

Irascible and self-sufficient, oft, 



34 " Old Hickory r 

He plunged to depths of folly and of crime — 
Thence issuing it could hardly be assumed 
He e'er might float on safe, successful tide : 
But as the noble keel defies the storm 
He rode above the tempest of his ire, 
And— though with riven sail— he reached the port. 
What most he needed was transmuting faith. 
Though destined for the Church, at thirteen called 
To war— divine control was lost in self. 

I sing not one, his country's father named 

With firmness guided by Omnipotence, 

Nor him whose word released dark millions bound, 

Nor one who placed before surrender, death ; 

But him who, terrible in discipline, 

Was adamantine in the field or State— 

Of him evoking cheers as sun draws rain. 

Like thunder rang the name " Old Hickory," 

So dubbed from nuts 'mid stress compelled to eat : 

I write of Andrew Jackson, conjuror 

Of love or hate through act intense. 

Bespattered is his memory with blood, 

In matrimony deemed irregular, 

Judicium sealed by ego, not by truth ; 

The claims of war a plea for cruelty, 

His own asserted as the public mind ; 

Yet 'bove the tempest of his nature rude, 

One star arose which failing to redeem 

Subdued and almost to forgiveness lead ; 

It semblance bore to charity that hides 



" Old Hickory." 35 

A multitude of sins— this antidote— 

A soul enlisted in his country's weal. 

'Round thought for her his faults and virtues hung; 

He garlanded his nation's honor e'en 

With all the best as well as worst he had. 

Why oft, when peace seems urging blessed claim, 
Doth horrent strife put reason to the blush ? 
Perchance 't is discontent alone— or she 
O'erruled by Providence for peaceful ends — 
Perchance to stir a stagnant tide to life, 
Lest hopeless sloth or tame endurance rust. 
The slumbering members of the human frame 
Oft need some shock, an impulse new to start, 
Lest unawares paralysis mock life 
And unapprised the heart-clock cease to beat. 

When war for party ends, 't would seem, was waged, 

From leader of militia he became 

A Major-General of the Regulars 

Despite the drawback of his violence, 

The duel which his anger oft provoked. 

Successful was his onward, brilliant way 

Till, climbing to the highest round of fame, 

He proffered troops to meet the expected foe, 

But these were by the Government recalled. 

For many a mile 't was needful they should march 

To reach their homes, and e'en without their pay : 

By his endeavor null and void this charge 

Became, which waked encomiums loud and long. 



36 " Old Hickory." 

With England interlaced the savage warrior fought, 
Whose butchery spread consternation wide ; 
But Jackson's strategy and bravery 
His plans frustrated and his purpose foiled. 
Hence safely could the whites their walks pursue, 
No longer in deep dread of scalping-knife ; 
Again might traffic on the land or stream 
Rouse baffled enterprise to start anew. 

Our hero now made undisputed head, 

Commanding all the army of the South, 

Like full -rigged ship, with favoring gales abaft, 

Defied the raging elements of war. 

The Capitol in hands of British troops, 

By counsel of his own he aimed his course. 

Within the power of Spain was Florida 

Whereon the enemy a fortress held. 

Before permission came from Washington 

This daring dastard genius of the wild 

Drove England from Floridian soil— 

The boulder of obstruction moved away. 

Enthused by ultimate design alone 

A power resistless seemed to supervise 

By which the good, the bad, the weak, the strong 

In him were hurtled till attained the goal. 

The martial character of a Jackson best 
Appeared in driving from New Orleans 
The flower of England's noted veterans. 



" Old Hickory r 37 

Against the great Napoleon had they fought 
In service worthy of their lineage — 
By Pakenham were they directed who 
Was Quartermaster under Wellington. 
Our soldiers true had vantage of defence ; 
But desultory and untrained were most : 
By confidence in their command and cause 
Had they a stimulant beyond their foes. 

Before the crescent city could resist 

Was Pensacola, key essential, gained ; 

This stronghold by the British held before 

By Jackson overcome made plain the way 

His ultimate design to consummate. 

The story thus by history is told — 

The enboldened chief with reassurance moved 

To shield from concentrated effort of 

The foe, the golden gateway to the South,— 

That mart unique, so full of social charm— 

Dull life forgot 'mid music and the dance — 

With fascination that, despite the heat 

Or pestilence, bids strangers from afar — 

Where France and Spain and Africa contrast 

With Briton or the farther North ; — 

That city where the famous lake invites 

With daintiest esculent and rare cuisine, 

Where luxury perennial delights, 

Their best from land and sea with travail brought— 

New Orleans our leader's mind absorbed, 



38 " Old Hickory." 

The focus for each ray of glittering war — 

His way festooned with laurels from the past ; 

He came with acclamations of the crowd ; 

Within its center was he waved 

By fair and dusky hand alike. 

Not long before his mastery was felt. 

At once conscription was decreed 

To stem the hostile movement from th- gulf. 

The chain of martial law bound fast revolt, 

The pirate, convict and militia-man 

Obeyed command as Nature tempest's voice. 

To meet the veterans of Pakenham 

Kentucky, Tennessee, alliance sent, 

Uprose the parapet of cotton bale 

And crude debris as by enchanter's wand. 

With rythmic spade and pick entrenchment grew ; 

This all to check a corps from Wellington. 

The signal for the strife was thundered forth 
From schooner Carolina's brazen throats, 
While Coffin reconnoitred flank and rear. 
The affrighted moon retired 'neath a cloud 
Whereby a conflict hand to hand ensued. 
In this as substitute for bayonets 
Long knives our huntsmen used with dire result, 
Inflicting unexpected ghastly wounds. 

Three hours passed, our warriors fell back 
Short distance from the city to their works. 



" Old Hickory." 3^ 

Therein recuperating, might was gained 
To deal the enemy a final blow. 

The time drew on the battle to renew. 

With reenforcement Pakenham advanced 

To find his men in slough of deep despond. 

He saw them by a transverse fire perplexed. 

Infused with spirit of Thermopylae, 

A handful ours, their cannon deadly aimed, 

While fresh recruits were coming to assist. 

'Mid chilling rain such sight depressing frowned. 

Twelve thousand at his back the prospect showed. 

His country's trailing honor would he lift, 

Determining in phalanx strong to march 

Against obstruction unforeseen at first. 

At distance from our lines three hundred yards 

He planted thirty guns his fleet supplied ; 

Of hogsheads filled with sugar, ramparts built. 

Appalling to our troops at morn's approach 

The messengers of Death in grim array ; — 

'T would seem that Tartarus had furnished aid 

With arms Satanic, threatening Liberty. 

But vain our fear, for balls we shot drove through 

Their cheating pile as though 't were thinnest air. 

Derisive too materials we used. 

Though bullet-proof the cotton bale, yet flames 

Consumed the barrier combustible. 

Across the Mississippi Patterson 

A safeguard raised against the foreigner. 



4 o " Old Hickory r 

Upon the levee did he in turn erect 

An offset that the former he might meet. 

Contending tide of war an hour raged, 

And when 't was calm, the battle smoke blown o'er, 

'T was found the assailants' loss was seventy 

While that which we sustained was thirty-four. 

In ruin were the breastworks of the foe, 

While ours remained almost as at the first. 

The cotton, that could not withstand a spark, 

By Jackson was removed and at the rear 

A fortress was upraised of earth alone. 

Louisiana and Kentucky sent 

Three thousand troops to aid New Orleans; 

But, clothed with rags and weaponless, they proved 

111 suited the emergency to brave. 

Two regiments complete to Britain's aid 

'Neath General Lambert's leadership arrived. 

Skilled Pakenham, a brother-in-law of him 

Called Iron Duke, Immobile Wellington, 

Would first across the river send a force 

To hush the iron mouths of Patterson, 

The line of Jackson afterward to break. 

His force remaining then, the front would charge, 

The van-guard filling with fascines the ditch, 

And planting scaling ladders on the wall. 

But first 't was needful a canal to build 

That from Lake Borgne might soldiers be conveyed 

The Mississippi's waters to attain. 



" Old Hickory." 

The Southern Chief, upon a structure tall, 
With spy-glass in his hand a planter gave, 
Inspiring halting ones, — surveyed the fight. 
He saw the fascines by the foeman made 
From sheaves of sugar-cane, -saw ladders too. 
As well did Pakenham the scene survey 
Uplifted to a lofty pine tree's top. 

With all the pomp of war the foe advanced, 

But -ah, to terrible destruction doomed ; 

A gun of thirty-two pounds calibre 

To topmost muzzle filled with musket balls, 

A factor potent in our service proved ; 

Discharged at once, -two hundred felt its power. 

Dismay with speed electric traveled on. 

To wrest confusion's undermining sway 
With fruitless effort Pakenham essayed ; 
For he, Achilles of the well-planned charge, 
Was shot and in McDougal's arms was caught ; 
The same held Ross who was at North Point slain. 
Both Gibbs and Keene to mortal wounds 

succumbed ; 
And Colonel Dale that led the Highlanders 
Was lost, and of his regiment, which went 
Into the field nine hundred strong or more, 
But fifty and an hundred men survived. 
Two officers the American breastworks climbed, 
A band of twenty men accompanying; 



4 J 



42 " Old Hickory r 

With many bullets riddled fell the first; 

The second, a surrender ordering, 

Was told to look behind him when behold, 

Not one of his companions could he see. 

His exclamation was that they had gone 

As though an earthquake's mouth had swallowed 

them. 
Some slight advantage did the British gain 
But overwhelmed they could not this retain. 
In only five and twenty minutes' fight 
Our enemy lost seven hundred killed — 
Of wounded fourteen hundred was the sum ; 
Five hundred were the prisoners of war. 
Of us were thirteen wounded and four slain. 
Three hundred thirteen and three score comprise 1 
Disaster in the whole campaign we met. 

Before the battle was the treaty signed 
In Ghent compounding for our grievances,— 
But information was too long delayed 
By tardiness with which the mail arrived. 
This second war with England Jackson sealed, 
Immensely to our native pride appealed. 
A doubt enshrouding liberty before 
Through certitude became a doubt no more. 
A second conflict for our country's right 
Victorious o'er a foe of Briton's might 
Resource developed of exalted grade, 
Surpassing country's prestige e'er by country laid ; 



" Old Hickory ." 43 

Self-government proved more than poet's dream, 

It offered now an uncontested theme ; 

All calumny bowed at the conqueror's feet 

Mid deafening plaudits for his work complete. 

Contempt of court caused Jackson to be fined, 

The verdict most unjust his friends opined ; 

They hissed the Judge while on their shoulders bore 

This idol of the people from the door. 

To one proposing to make good the amount 

He said that he would settle the account; — 

An act of Congress subsequent was passed 

The sum he paid refunding at the last. 

Amazing his controlling power o'er man 

When triumph of his personelle we scan. 

In war with Seminole Indian waged 

Wherein as Major-General engaged, 

Outrageous though his acts to many seemed, 

Their odium by some strange spell was screened. 

The Spanish Fort, St. Mark's, he overcame, 

And there a Scot found, Arbuthnot by name j 

Most summary he ordered his arrest, 

Another too was seized at his behest. 

Though British subjects both, yet were they tried, 

Affirmed to be with Indians allied. 

With these condemned two savage chiefs were hung, 

And Pensacola from the Spaniards wrung. 

In England thereupon a feud arose 

But anger failed to terminate in blows. 



44 " Old Hickory r 

While Congress with disfavor viewed his act, 

Majority a vote of censure lacked ; 

The criticisms heaped upon his head 

To many a furious imprecation led. 

He deemed the administration on his side 

By his opinion willing to abide, — 

Reluctant all by public act to quell 

This man who each suspicion could dispel, 

Who by some indefinable control 

Defied, as 't were, conviction of the soul. 

But not in war alone did Jackson tower, 

In rulership of state was felt his power. 

When presidential honors he obtained 

Wide confidence he won, though often blamed ; 

That firmness which in war unflinching stood 

In time of peace could face a multitude. 

Discharging duty of his post, no deed 

Transcends uprooting of secession's weed ; 

When on the tariff question it was sought 

By South Carolina to esteem as nought 

A measure it presumed would militate 

Against financial interest of the state, 

Through vigorous assertion of his will 

He strove at once the incipient growth to kilL 

By some it was supposed that he approved 

Of such disloyalty as many moved. 

Because inimical to tariff high, 

No reason that from duty he should fly. 



" Old Hickory." 45 

Old Hickory dispelled a false conceit, 
Deciding hostile plans by force to meet. 
While unionists sustaining heart and hand 
He vowed the nulliner to withstand. 
In thus deciding he pursued a course 
Diverse from much authoritative source. 
State Rights was doctrine shielded by such 

minds 
As object far more worthy often finds. 
The erudite and polished statesman Hayne 
Was sectionally tinctured with this stain, 
E'en Randolph to the heresy, 't is said, 
Approval gave upon his dying bed. 
The great Calhoun, in almost every mouth, 
The champion logician of the South, 
Who stood in Yale the leader of his class, 
Whose partisans avowed could none surpass, 
Who shorter way than Euclid even found 
A proposition given to expound, 
Coeval magnate with a Webster, Clay, 
Triumvirate renowned of earlier day — 
The State Rights' fallacy distinct proclaimed, 
In its behalf enlisting gifts so famed. 
Unworthy of a soul with genius rife 
This blot supposed upon a blameless life. 

Such men upholding, why should Jackson pause 
If favoring, in shielding such a cause ? 



46 " Old Hickory y 

Moreover, ingrain Southerner, was he 

A slaveholder, and far from bias free. 

With nullifying tenets out of tune 

Was charged to his aversion for Calhoun : 

'T was thought had he their advocate not been 

Far lighter the display of his chagrin. 

Unjust opinion such as this we view 

Of one from earliest years to country true— 

Who nobly by her standard ever stood 

At her command, prepared to shed his blood, 

Who volunteered 'mid danger troops to raise, 

A terror oftentimes to treacherous ways, 

Who good opinion so extensive won 

For acts so serviceable he had done. 

As minor streams that independent go 

Obey the sweeping torrent's mightier flow, 

Whatever may have been his private thought 

Before the common weal he made as naught. 

In renovating finance it was he 

Gave what is known as the Sub-Treasury. 

Descent upon the Nation's Bank he made, 

Its services forgotten in the shade. 

Himself a patriot of genuine ring, 

The basic value did he serve to bring. 

He deemed inflation could not longer hold, 

Deferred all currency alone to gold,— 

No silver phantom came before his eyes, 

The arrest metal yielding place to size ; 



"Old Hickory" 4? 

Believed not in a subterfuge alone, 
But that which as a standard long was known. 
It was not kind that office he should take 
From worthy men because of party's sake. 
Such spirit lacked a sense of governance 
That would a people's greatest good advance, 
That to the victor best " belonged the spoils " 

Ambition undermined for honest toils, 

From motto such corruption has o'erspread, 
And glory's bloom from our escutcheon fled. 

By Jackson was the Nation's debt discharged, 

Foundation for prosperity enlarged, 

The eagle with an undipped wing could soar 

And commerce ride the wave from shore to shore ; 

The Cotton King his scepter proudly hold, 

The corn spring blithely from the wold, 

The emigrant could find a sure retreat, 

With ready work his energies to greet, 

And literature, with unincumbered grace, 

Its votaries could charm with smiling face. 

The second term of Jackson spread a feast 
That all could share from greatest to the least ; 
The golden sunshine beamed on humblest home 
A rainbow picturing bright years to come. 

And yet a specter shocked the festal board, 

The product springing from a thoughtless horde,— 



48 " Old Hickory r 

A Pandemonium o'er the country reigned, 
While faith in the administration waned, — 
Betraying how it needs the afflicting rod 
That Nature's restlessness may yield to God. 
And whence such discord 'mid prosperity, 
Suggesting rule of more severity? 
Apart from wantonness within man born, 
That rises to the height of plenty's horn, 
Some thought 't was owing to our nation's head 
By whom the country was so easy led. 
Perchance example may have had its share 
In waking license from its noisome lair, 
He being more than aught beside to blame 
Eccentric hero whom no court could tame, — 
Much like the royal beast within his cage, 
That needs but bars unloosed to vent his rage. 
'T was hence such widespread lawlessness 

prevailed, 
That decency with vandal hand assailed, 
The pistol and the bowie knife at large, 
The bench too ready culprit to discharge, 
A partisanship on almost nothing based 
That only to some shibboleth was traced, 
With catalogue of every kind of name 
Fanatic ingenuity may claim. 

As one the foremost of our rulers said— 
Sincerely cherished 'mongst our honored dead — 
Amid the names of clubs existing then 
Were those of temperance and working-men, 



" Old Hickory ." 49 

With Anti-Mason, Union, and State Rights,— 

While Jackson men stood on the topmost heights; 

Van Buren men, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, 

Were poised upon the air like a balloon ; 

McLean men also, Whigs and Tories too,— 

Republicans and Democrats in view. 

The orator was largely in demand 

As spumy as the sea that woos the sand 

Though often insignificant his theme, 

Like roaring whirlwind did his utterance seem. 

While serious questions were allowed to rest, 

Quixotic trifles filled the laboring breast ; 

He soared upon the lofty eagle's wing, 

Unlike the bird except in plundering ; 

The Stars and Stripes he lifted to the sky 

To shout for them more willing than to die. 

Though greatly needed there was no police, 
Hence far from easy to preserve the peace, 
And had not such protection been obtained 
'T is hard to tell what chaos might have reigned. 
Far better guardian such, although but poor, 
Than danger always standing at the door. 

The habits of the President were plain, 

He thinking ceremonial but vain. 

He did not copy mode baronial, 

The primness of the old colonial, 

Iconoclastic as to etiquette, 

But little cared for what is called "Our Set." 



50 " Old Hickory r 

A Codex somewhat free and easy reigned 
By politicians specially maintained, 
Tobacco in excess shocked senses fine, 
And potent distillation mocked at wine, 
Descendants did not closely imitate, 
The British Saxon keeping royal state, 
The style prevailing, if a style at all, 
At least original might critics call, — 
Yet unpretending, — to our credit more, 
Than rudeness copied from a foreign shore, 
The courtesy of kindness deemed of naught 
Before that hauteur much by weaklings sought ; 
Far better heart beneath crude manners found 
That stamps its features on each look and sound 
Of intercourse within a saddened world, 
Than frigid stiffness like an insult hurled, 
While those o'erlooked in all respects outride 
Automata of emptiness and pride. 

Our hero, always on the topmost wave, 

Was safe despite the perils he might brave, 

No missile fatal ever pierced his breast, 

No counter purpose could his own molest, 

His aim ne'er failed to reach the favoring spot, 

As brawny arm the pliant metal hot, 

His rivals all were routed from their seat, 

While vengeance smiled as cowed in their retreat. 

Long trained 'mid savages in ambuscade 

He learned profoundest cunning to evade. 



" Old Hickory r 51 

He saw outdistanced in the race a Clay 
And great Calhoun submissive to his sway. 
" Old Hickory " resounded to the ear 
Full loud at last as in his mid career, 
O'erwhelmed with visits when he had retired, 
He was by those opposed to him admired ; 
His star within his Hermitage outshone 
The brightest gem that gleams from monarch's 

throne. 
Strange, faultful, fateful man incisive now, 
A memory enduring pays its vow, 
Through faith in an eternal power to save 
We bury all thy faults within the grave. 
We know before didst pass the Stygean stream 
Religion's consolation shed its beam. 
Thou from and in and by the people placed 
Thy influence with us be ever traced ; 
We need thy courage in the trying hour, 
Whene'er America forgets her dower. 
We need thy will to carry out the ends 
On which a nation's happiness depends. 
We need thy conscience where corruption taints 
And in its greedy presence virtue faints ; 
We need thee with thy hardy common sense 
To teach us with the useless to dispense ; 
To teach true rank does not on title lean, 
But in its native worth may best be seen. 
No Cato e'er was needed more in Rome 
Than thou to rectify for time to come. 



ALPHA DELTA PHI POEMS. 





ALPHA DELTA PHI POEM 



DELIVERED AT THE FIFTY-SECOND CONVENTION, 
MIDDLETOWN, CONN., MAY 28, 1 884. 



I AIR city, which compos'd and queen-like sits 

With vassal streamlet at thy side, 
jThy lovely picturesqueness well befits 
These spirits choice, an academic tide — 
Who lustrous by the gems of ancient thought, 
To trace the beautiful have best been taught. 



With love of learning and with open heart 

Thy residents extend good cheer 
To those for whom its living fountains start, 

Who deem its rich rewards of mind more dear 
Than ingots, which with pain are brought from far 
Or trophies crimson'd with the gore of war. 
55 



56 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

in 

Much pleas'd, thy sons and daughters do we greet 

For all invoking halcyon days; 
May life's embittered cup be rendered sweet — 

Its gloom dispell'd by heavenly rays. 
If corn and wine in other lands should fail, 
May thy rich valleys ne'er such loss bewail. 

IV 

And as the muse, which lives beyond the age 
And smiles upon the time to come, — 

May growing worth thy lengthen'd years engage 
And ratify thy nursing home 

Of intellect, of prowess and of love, 

Which from high truth immortal ne'er shall move. 



A tender int'rest in our greeting wakes, 

As turn we to yon classic shrine, 
Enlight'ning those for whose especial sakes 

These friends congenial now entwine, 
And who of fellow-feeling touched the spring 
Which from their daily cares old comrades bring. 



VI 

John Wesley, name to every Christian dear, 
Such monument was reared to thee — 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 57 

Whom, if in world of light we may appear, 

Be sure we there with palm shall see 
Well known among the beatific throng 
That 'round the throne pour forth the seraph song. 

VII 

If undeserving, yet with pen aglow 

I speak for loftier name than all j 
'T were well conceived that Wesleyan bestow 

On Trinity within her call, 
The meed of clothing in poetic strains 
Those deathless sentiments the soul contains. 

VIII 

Dear sister, on the wing of cherished love 
Accept our treasured memory kind; 

We trust our hearts from thee will never rove 
Where leagues but few affections bind. 

May health be theirs who mental tendrils train, 

Thy chapter worthy ne'er receive a stain. 

IX 

And well it were we pass not coldly by 
The name of Berkley, prized so well, 

And one long known to friendship's hallowed tie 
Whose precepts cannot fail to tell 

When long forgotten is this favored day, 

And o'er our sod the sighing breezes play. 



58 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

x 

Ye brethren of the Alpha Delta near 

Whom other institutions claim — 
With unfeigned greetings we your hearts would cheer 

Whate'er may be your clime or name ; 
Accept a salutation fraught with power, 
Whose bloom defies the bustling, fleeting hour. 

XI 

The motive which cements our cordial will 
Uprose from no mean, sordid bond — 

Briarean are the welcomes we distil 
From choicest reminiscence fond; 

Our Banian tree has planted wide and deep 

From germs which were not born in cloistered sleep. 

XII 

We trust that all your cares are left behind, 
Beguiled by sweet communion's joy ; 

That blissful wakenings here you chance to find, 
Sad retrospect may not destroy ; 

And when enshrined within the heart of home 

These scenes may linger, gladdening years to come. 



XIII 

But greeting o'er — to choose some fitting theme — 
A tribute meet where earnestness we find — 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 59 

An undisputed duty plain must seem 

Where thought is not to duty blind. 
To tendencies material which appear, 
In terms concise we would invite your ear. 



Who dare assert our land is chained to sense, 

To mammon- worship and to vain expense — 

In what the wise esteem but toys, 

Proud reason, deep-immersed in vapid joys — 

That Darwin-like the masses seem to think 

The chattering ape must be the missing link; 

Or, Epicurus-like, the eternal soul 

Base flesh did make and also doth control ? 

Sure lofty spires invite to realms above, 

And pastors speak the words of heavenly love — 

If ofttimes fearing it were not so well 

To shock good taste with that proscribed word — spell. 

Religion, perfumed, rises on the air, 

While notes of sweet persuasion are not rare. 

Then Education sheds her healthful smile, 

With well-schooled measures seeking to beguile 

From low, ensnaring and ill-timed pursuits, 

Reducing to a level with the brutes. 

Contrivances appear in every guise, 

To lift the earth-bound to supernal skies, 

To tear asunder from the mental gaze 

Obstructions which conceal the truth's clear rays ; 



6o Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Yet still the carnal mind seeks carnal things, 
Despite each plan which moral effort brings. 
E'en as the cat which once was made a queen, 
A mouse appearing still a cat did seem, 
So those belonging to a sin-soiled race 
For old enticements disavow their grace ; 
Professors grave and mitres, chair of state, 
Become the same as at a prior date 
Before transforming honor raised the wand, 
Enabling to assume the higher stand. 
An earthen vessel time at length reveals, 
Although a precious treasure it conceals. 



ii 

A moment let us glance the eye around 

And trace such taint as in the Church is found. 

The Church of Christ a spirit truth invests 

As pure as snow-flake which on mountain rests ; 

A Bride of Spouse Divine she is proclaimed, 

Of Him who in high heaven Chief is named ; 

Compared she is to that chaste silvery light 

Whose effluence pure relieves the raven night ; 

She is to soar without polluting spot 

In all the record of her endless lot. 

But as 'mid Eden crept the wily foe — 

Fair innocence ensnared with cunning low — 

So coils and venomed slime are found within 

That garden of redeemed ones, cleansed from sin. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Beyond the teachings of a simple creed 

Corrosive fashion and vain rite proceed, 

'Till Babylonian is the scarlet hue 

That grieves the sober and reflecting view — 

Or else, compounding with the natural man, 

The Faith relaxes from her ancient plan, 

And doctrine full of conservating power 

Obeys the skeptic triumph of the hour. 

The preacher's strength is on the human side ; 

Consulting taste, he must the Word divide ; 

Of vice in general he may speak at will ; 

Of vice particular, 't were best be still, 

Else to his grief, and also his dismay, 

He finds that he has preached himself away. 

Religious entertainment men require, 

And not for truth's sake they their clergy hire. 



in 

Then when we view Society, that state 
Presumed upon religion to await, 
Ordained for healthful purposes alone — 
Supposed most rational in respective zone — 
Much this is marred by horrid brazen crime, 
More base than in the untaught early time 
(Allowance made for heading of the press 
That suits a morbid public — in the dress), 
The mischief-loving sisters of Macbeth 
May caldron stir, 'mid ceaseless dance of death, 



62 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Combining in their broth, some heads of banks, 

With disunited couples from all ranks. 

Alluding to a goodly, well-known state, 

Where marriage banns did much on courts await, 

A bishop once a distich did invent ; 

As memory serves, 't was somewhat thus it went : 

" I say * connect ' — excuse the way 't is put — 

When soon the well-feed lawyer says ' I cut.' " 

Of yore, a chief position it is said 

Was yielded to the heart and to the head. 

But often now the heels usurp the place 

Of intellect, the glory of the race. 

To speak the German no one need assay; 

To dance it, were the accepted better way. 



IV 

Grotesque the exhibitions that we see — ■ 
A comedy without th' admission fee. 
Let 's take a peep at Folly's magic glass 
And choose from modish figures as they pass. 
Pray what is this that trips along the pave, 
With arms akimbo and with visage grave, 
O'erwrought in keeping one glass at the eye, 
Resistive well-bleached collar rising high ; 
With curtailed overcoat and long-tailed frock, 
And pantaloons so tense that children mock ; 
And bell-crowned beaver of such ample size 
That vapory thoughts find space in which to rise ; 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 63 

With horizontal cane at midway held 
As though each saucy poodle would be quelled — 
That rashly questioned with a rival gaze, 
This sample setting female hearts ablaze ? 
And what is this with wriggling, mincing pace, 
Its hair descending o'er the nobler face, 
With bonnet poised above the giddy head 
As though of brains it had a dainty dread ; 
With struggling limbs in fettering silks encased, 
With flying hands and lung-destroying waist, 
Which seems a grasshopper of larger growth — 
While to enlarge the mind alone seems loath ? 
Fantastic the conceit that thus would shine 
Oblivious of an origin divine ; 
Why, pray, the painted savage more despise, 
When so-called Christians don such queer disguise ? 
Of yore a pluck'd fowl Plato styled a man ; 
Perhaps such model serves a present plan. 
Methinks less graceful is this hampered gait 
Than that suggested by the unfeathered state. 
Oh, when will Nature's face in charms appear 
Of paint and dye relieved, and uncouth gear ? 



Note next the conversation of the day ; — 
How much in its behalf have we to say ? 
It gravitates upon the upper air 
With which its thinnest gases may compare 



64 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Not sparkling like the fluid in the glass, 

Or glistening dew-drop crowning blade of grass, 

With wit which, if not the highest, serves to cheer 

And drive from grief's abode the rising tear; — 

But seems it as to trees, mere oozing gum, 

Or like on buoyant waters floating scum ; 

Unseasoned by the salt of healthful lore, 

The man of thoughtfulness is styled a bore; 

Instead of themes that lift the groveling mind, 

The senseless and the child-like do we find ; — 

Or should the topic rise to serious grade, 

It dwells on stocks, on market movements, trade, 

Or last sensation in the journal read, 

On those but lately married, or the dead. 

Full many knit the brow in effort vain 

To find out if to-morrow it will rain ; 

Or if 't is very hot or very cold — 

Whate'er the weather — you will oft be told. — 

But next — can conversation be enhanced 

With thoughts so worthless in our books advanced ? 

Oft gravity is shocked with flimsy speech 

Because of much that 's published in our reach. 



Books to us are faithful blessings 
O'er the chequered path of life ; 

Soothing, full of kind caressings 
Are they 'mid this toilsome strife. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 



Yet are they as great an evil 
When perverted from their end ; 

Children are they of the devil, 
If foul error they defend. 

in 
Mental muscle fast increaseth 

When with noble thoughts that teem ; 
Mental muscle fast decreaseth 

If unreal as a dream. 

IV 

Trifling fiction much supplanteth 

Fact, exalting, living, pure ; 
And the facile author granteth 

What more purchases secure. 

v 
Books that read themselves are vended, 

Which the sluggard mind enjoys ; 
And if crumbs of good be blended, 

Sweet and vapid treacle cloys. 

VI 

Bacon, Locke and Aristotle, 
Gibbon, Hume and Rollin, too, 

Upstart authors quickly throttle — 
An ignoble Waterloo. 



6 5 



66 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

VII 

Light confections fail to nourish 

When the system strong meat craves ; 

So our minds cannot thus flourish, 
Sinking to dyspeptic graves. 

VIII 

And like books, so Art doth pander 
To a morbid, vicious need ; 

From its higher walks doth wander, 
Unenlighten'd tastes to feed. 

IX 

Classic schools are oft derided 
By the painters of the day ; 

Sordidly, it is decided, 

Classic schools will never pay. 



Glittering and fantastic pictures 
Much the connoisseur offend — 

Whereon artists place no strictures, 
Since the trade it doth befriend. 

XI 

Music and the art dramatic 
Bend low to the vulgar will, 

While the critic — when emphatic — 
Doth with rage impostors fill. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 67 

XII 

Poesy of noble mission, 

Sent from grossness vile to save, 

Tell me, pray, what thy condition 
While sweeps on this vandal wave ? 

XIII 

Dost thou lift unsullied beauty 

Spite such devastation fell; 
Hast forgot thy sacred duty — 

Errors' darkness to dispel ? 

XIV 

Shade of Shakespeare make thee stronger 
'Mid the slough of deep despond ; 

If thou struggle ages longer — 
Give to him thy fealty fond. 

XV 

Lo, the muse, with dastard yielding, 
Stoops unworthy crown to wear ; 

Ne'er relenting, judgment shielding, 
Seeking soon such wreath to tear. 

XVI 

For the sake of favor winning, 

And the populace to please, 
Oft we find the poet sinning 

On the side of pelf and ease. 



68 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

XVII 

Rhetoric takes the place of thinking, 
Luring with convenient haze; 

Form, advanced with foppish prinking, 
Doth bewildered readers daze. 

XVIII 

Much the crowd affect to like it, 
Captured by a verbose show ; 

From the page would good sense strike it 
For one thought in lucid flow. 

XIX 

Note yon orb with frenzy rolling, 
While ascends poetic mist ; — 

'Mid vagarious numbers strolling, 
Vainly seek you for the gist. 

XX 

Milton vanish in confusion, 

Coleridge, Wordsworth, Pope and Burns 
Bleeding from severe contusion, 

Rest — neglected in your urns. 

XXI 

Turn we now from art and letters 
To the needful — judged by most ; 

Leaving verdict for our betters — 
To the criticising host. 



Alpha Delia Phi Foetus. 69 

XXII 

Wealth our Father kindly gave us, 

In a soil of rare resource ; 
Much His aid we need to save us 

From a soul-consuming course. 

XXIII 

This a shining bubble dances, 
While the wise and foolish chase j 

This the zest of life enhances, 
Spurs the slow, unwilling pace : 

XXIV 

Argonautic expeditions 

For the golden fleece equipped, 

Rousing men in all positions, 
Eager rush they to be shipped. 

XXV 

Much of good the gold hath done us ; 

Tears uprising doth it stay ; 
But, alas, it oft hath won us 

To forsake the better way. 

XXVI 

While the noblest are empowered 
With this tempting misused trust 

Many fraught with virtue cowered, 
Soon are conquered by its lust. 



70 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

XXVII 

Oft it causes petrifaction 

Where a Christian love should guide ; 
Oft foments a wild distraction, 

Whence unnumber'd ills betide. 

XXVIII 

Social barriers are erected, 
Shutting out the worthy poor, 

Where, if merit were detected, 
Wide would ope the bolted door. 

XXIX 

See entire nations bowing, 

Dancing round the golden calf, 

With their best the god endowing, 
While complacent demons laugh. 

XXX 

Maidens bright, refined and comely, 
In appeasement have been sold 

To the witless, cross-grained, homely, 
With deep pockets full of gold. 

XXXI 

Grammar tortured, port ungainly, 
Do not lessen flattery's guile, 

While good speech and bearing, vainly, 
Seek to win approving smile. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 71 



XXXII 



Little wonder — lured by money, 
Men will suffer, toil and cheat ; 

E'en as flies transfixed by honey 
They are held by this deceit. 



As the sun golden 

Rises at morning, 

Nature adorning, 
Sending his life-giving beam o'er the sea, 

Bringing forth flowers, 

Fragrant in bowers, 
Grain in response whitening, covering the lea, 
Sowing in harvestmen hopeful delight ; — 

So with full measure 

Those tried with treasure 

Freely should give, 

Causing to live — 

Cheering with slumbers kind, 

Dark brooding night. 



Oh, how we grovel 
In palace and hovel, 
Steeping the senses 
In creature expenses 
'Mid dainties novel, 



72 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Reaping such fruits 

As gluttonous brutes ; 
Eating the acorn, nor looking above, 
Nurturing branches, feeding in love. 

in 

From dust we spring, 

Of dust we sing, 

To dust we cling, 
Shrouding the beam of the undying soul ; 

Daily it pineth, 

Droopeth, declineth, 
O'erwhelmed by surgings that piteously roll. 

IV 

An age material, 
Worldly, imperial, 
Scouts as ethereal 

Chivalry's aims; 
Eminent knowledge 
Fetters the college 
Life genial dashing, 
As though 't were clashing 

With serious claims; 
The secret society, 
With badge of variety, 
Reaching satiety, 
Yields to propriety, 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 7s 

Clouding the festal ray 
'Neath learning's dome; 
The sweets of communion, 
The service of union. 
Must vanish away 

Through edicts to come. 



Again — we are so practical, 
Exact and mathematical, 
In business so fanatical, 

That forsooth 
Some even would ignore 
Or limit classic lore, 
As bearing faint relation 

To the truth. 
They would leave Olympic heights, 
And extinguish ancient lights, 
As but rubbish little suited 

To the need 
Of a rising generation 
Which must form the future nation 
That should not any 

Lofty craving feed. 
Thus the noblest thoughts that spring, 
Which with inspiration ring 
UnefTaced upon the brightest 

Page of time, 



74 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Are crippled by the fashions, 
Nay, verdict of the passions, 
And whatever is opposed to 
The sublime. 

VI 

Now, brethren, 't is your duty, 

Convened through social tie, 
To strive lest low ambition 

Our heritage belie ; 
To yield to the material, 

Its fair, its proper place, 
Resisting foul corruption — 

Its headlong, fatal pace ; 
To urge that coin be valued 

Alone for what 't is worth, 
The same as occupation, 

Environment of birth ; 
Not made a god to worship — 

The lord of heaven and earth ; 
To banish all imposture 

Where'er its trail be found, 
While treading with due caution 

Near consecrated ground ; 
To kindle love of country 

At shrine of love to man ; 
So pure in its devotion 

That angels e'en may scan ; 



Alpha Delta Phi Poe?ns. 75 

To strive that chiefs like Pericles 

Be found to rule the State ; 
Or like the censor Cato, 

Aurelius, mild and great; 
Or like the good King Alfred 

Who raised the Saxon race ; 
Or Washington, the peerless, 

Controlled by Christian grace j 
To seek lest king-ruled strangers 

Who cast with us their lot — 
Expose to foreign dangers 

Our Freedom's resting spot; 
From brutal degradation 

To lift each sense-bound soul ; 
To aim, through education, 

The passions to control. 
As in rude germ secreted, 

A plant may spring on high, 
Unfolding leaves of beauty 

To greet the summer sky, 
So most perverted manhood 

Conceals a plant divine, 
Which with celestial glory 

Eternally may shine ; 
As Buonarotti's chisel 

An angel brought from stone, 
So ye, to stainless being 

May lift the fallen one. 



76 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

VII 

As lifeboats in the storm 

Are launched upon the main 
To cheer the sinking form 

With radiant hope again, 
So men of Christian thought, 

While mammon's billows roll, 
Your mission 't is to save 

From hapless doom the soul. 
As o'er the treacherous deep 

The pilot keeps his eye, 
Observe life's tempest track, 

Its ever-changing sky. 
With wistful, tender care 

The pole-star guides at night ; 
So 'mid each doubt and fear 

Shines Bethlehem's watchful light. 
Then seize the coming day, 

Its portents vast behold ; 
Whate'er the cost may prove, 

For God, for Right,— be bold. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 77 

FLORAL TRIBUTE TO A A <£. 



I SOUGHT the fragrant heliotrope, 
A gift, dear Alpha, loved, to thee; 
For when the sun awakens hope 

His joyous beam she turns to see ; 
From him enticement ne'er allures, 

Unmoved by Art's or Nature's sway, 
Her patient constancy endures 

When dismal shades conceal the day. 



Our pride, our joy ; thy spell we own 

Whate'er the charm that spreads its wiles, 
'Mid every scene in every zone, 

From fond allegiance nought beguiles ; 
A sun thou art to lead us on 

With memories bright of genial mirth, 
To bid unseemly care begone, 

And lend a glow to saddened earth. 

in 

Oh, modest make us like the hue 

Which decks the plain, unboastful flower; 

For fragrant worth we also sue, 
A presence felt, a helpful power. 



7 8 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

We trust, when leaves are scattered far, 
And stems lie low before the wind, 

The crescent proud, the radiant star 
As loyal hearts again shall find. 



WORK FOR LOVE AND DUTY. 



WORK for love and duty, 
On thyself rely, 
Crown with truth and beauty 

Alpha Delta Phi. 
E'en the brightest morning 

Sheds a flickering ray, 

Roseate hours adorning, 

Pluck the fleeting day. 

Refrain. 
Work for love and duty, 

On thyself rely, 
Crown with truth and beauty 

Alpha Delta Phi. 



Cease not star thy shining, 
O'er the crescent curve, 

Growing, ne'er declining, 
Deathless hope preserve. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 79 

Towards each Mecca steering 

Brave to reach the strand, 
Nought of danger fearing, 

Safe our bark shall land. 
Refrain. — Work for love, etc. 



in 

Ne'er our zeal can falter 

Cheered by noblest aim, 
While devotion's altar 

Glows with sacred flame. 
Every brother drooping 

Loath to run the race 
Humbly, gently stooping 

Urge his wearied pace. 
Refrain. — Work for love, etc. 

IV 

May the vows uniting 

Pledged in days gone by, 
Ne'er a comrade slighting, 

Sacred bind for aye ; 
While a world capricious 

Woos or turns aside, 
Let no plot malicious 

Hearts endeared divide. 
Refrain. — Work for love, etc. 



8o Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 



Through the coming battle, 

Plant the standard high, 
'Mid the roar and rattle 

Dare to do or die. 
Sing the song fraternal, 

Boon companions toast, 
In the march eternal 

Lead the living host. 
Refrain. — Work for love, etc. 



ACROSTIC. 

ALPHA DELTA PHI. 

Read by the author at the 20th Initiation of the Phi Kappa 
Chapter. 

AMONG the bands by friendship sown 
ii Let her be sung long years have known ; 
Profound to judge of heart and brain 
Her pride it is such wealth to gain ; 
Awake to union's deep control 
Division ne'er disturbs the soul; 
Emitting beams of love afar 
Long live the crescent and the star ; 
The charm of sympathy endears 
And courtesy where she appears ; 
Preserving from above the sky 
Her honor— this emblazoned high 
Illumines Alpha Delta Phi. 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 
PHI KAPPA. 

RESURGEMUS, 

Delivered at the dinner given in honor of the Phi Kappa branch of 
Alpha Delta Phi. 

AMONG the beacons through the mists of time, 
An endless gleam uprising cheers my rhyme. 
The days of study and of transient care 
Had ne'er such glow within their circlets rare. 
Two swords athwart upon a shield of gold 
Comprised its emblem, and its secret told— 
Phi Kappa, deep inscribed within the breast, 
Oft gave the fluttering wanderer a nest, 
When like a shot amid the forest gloom 
Reports within the recitation room 
Reverberated through the book of doom— 
If found 'mid grain that made the farmer grieve ; 
Like two fair streams uniting in their tide 
With Alpha may Phi Kappa joyful glide, 
May she continuous be a faithful bride 
With other dames it may be by his side, 
Who wooed, and not were wooed, his roof to share, 
Each wishing to enjoy his honored care ; 
If wedded over much the husband prove, 
Yet none can doubt the virtue of his love ; 
In many states is seen this much-wived swain 
Who needs no philter to bring back again 



82 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

To duty's also to affection's call ; 

He true to one is likewise true to all. 

The lasting memory of worth 

Is cherished though of humblest birth, 

The tricks that flourish for a day 

Indignant storms shall sweep away. 

With Heaven's seal upon her brow 

Before true, worth the nations bow ; 

To mould her bronze do they combine, 

Upon historic page doth shine 

Her name, that grateful thoughts entwine ; 

Phi Kappa's worth we testify 

In this our festal memory : 

Revering Alpha Delta Phi, 

We cannot slight Phi Kappa's tie. 

I greet you, brethren, to-night 

Illumined by a distant light, 

I '11 lead you back to those I knew 

Among a sacred cherished few ; 

Like dreams their well-known forms appear 

E'en now as then, a vision dear. 

Of some among that group I '11 tell 

Perhaps to you not known so well— 

Whom, should I chance to picture wrong, 

You cannot contradict my song. 

Like Hercules in lion's skin 
Does one who never failed to win 
In all his manly strength arise 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 83 

Before my reminiscent eyes. 

It seemed as though the hydra's head 

His oravery would never dread, 

Would throttle serpents at his will 

And each audacious beast could kill ; — 

Yet never on a boastful key 

He bade antagonism flee ; 

Presuming not upon his strength, 

Ne'er farther stirred than reason's length 

When insult by inferiors flung 

His gentlemanly feeling stung. 

Above his fellows did he walk 

Whose purpose none would choose to balk, 

Save those who courage will defy 

When yoked to magnanimity. 

Another comes of smaller build, 

And yet his niche was amply filled ; 

His temper, like the April skies,— 

'T was doubtful when 't would fall or rise. 

His hand, the first within a fight, 

Was quick withdrawn if foe were right. 

The ocean was perturbed above, 

Beneath the restfulness of love. 

When danger frowned from look or speech, 

Its frown a smile would soon impeach ; 

His bark, far fiercer than his bite, 

Diversion gave the knowing wight, 

Who, when the farce commenced, would stay 



84 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

To see the ending of the play. 
He scared intrusion from the fold 
With curiosity too bold— 
More useful than a common scold. 

One thin and sinuous as an eel, 

Whose very silence you could feel, 

Stole in and out, whom no one heard, 

And yet who scarcely missed a word 

Whene'er the solemn tripod burned 

With cabalistic phrase disurned. 

His agile person he could swing 

As quick as any in the ring, 

Could dance, could leap, could writhe and run 

The gaping, rustic crowd to stun. 

A donkey mount, a horse could tame, 

And come forth victor in each game. 

Composed of stern New England grit, 

With shrewdness and with native wit, 

Not moved by frills and furbelows 

That shock the gloom in city shows ; 

In plainest garment felt as grand 

As though a chief in fashion's band. 

Among the yeomen was he born, 

Who give us oats and wheat and corn. 

To schoolhouse and to Bible wed, 

A true American inbred. 

A Nestor comes forward with thought on his brow. 
A signal of power to which others bow ; 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 85 

For counsel conspicuous, to counterpoise harm 

When rival societies wakened alarm. 

Both quiet his mien and in utterance mild, 

He soothed every fear as a mother her child. 

No comrade disputed his right to command, 

Immovably upright where few else could stand ; 

As the aqueous vapor subdues the sun's glare, 

Disclosing each tint through the earth, sea, and air, 

He, tempering justice with mercy's soft haze, 

Showed harmony's beauty inviting the gaze. 

A Christian consistent wherever he moved, 

To name was to praise this kind brother beloved. 

In the Southland he sleeps— through the depth of the year, 

The rose and magnolia above him still cheer, 

While time cannot dim the impression he made, 

In footsteps reverberant, where he is laid. 

And now one approaches of quite different feather, 
Who blustering winds changed to fairest of weather ; 
His don't care kept threatening ghouls at a distance, 
Whom jollity greeted with noble resistance. 
Aphrodite was more to his fancy than Vesta, 
A bumper he cherished, a pipe and siesta. 
For Latin and Greek he had always a pony, 
Mathematics to solve, had some good-natured crony. 
He was first at the grave to inter Conic Sections, 
As mourner the chief with lugubrious inflections, 
Asymptote, parabola, also ellipse, 
He wished were assigned to a total eclipse, 
He saw not the beauty in Saturn and Mars, 



86 Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

And ne'er would forsake his warm bed for the stars. 
The road to all science deemed thorny and stony 
And learning's best provender, juiceless and bony, 
Had marvelous skill the professors in bluffing 
At the end of the term he succeeded by stuffing. 
Great talent he had that was meet for emergence, 
From using it often, he sought a divergence. 
He thought college honors at best were a fiction, 
And studious habits kept under restriction. 
His room was confusion — yea, doubly confounded, 
A jargon of tongues from its depth oft resounded. 
He was one of those fellows who, cheating the college, 
Imbibe at each fountain except that of knowledge. 
The clowns of the circus, with cap and bells ringing, 
That ever a jest at the sober are flinging, 
Who get their degrees by force of contrivance, 
And perhaps through the aid of their classmates' con- 
nivance. 

But who appears at last to greet us 

From the scattered clan ? 
With outstretched hand he comes to meet us 

Keeping in the van. 
Much like a greyhound leaped he onward 

Toward an object sought, 
And like a bulldog clung tenacious 

Till the game was caught ; 
Dichado and Phi Kappa stamped he 

On the living page, 



Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 87 

And 'gainst those in the opposition, 

Scarce suppressed his rage. 
A Quaker grieved when once his captain 

Chased a privateer, 
Repenting said, " The helm keep hard up, 

Captain, as you steer." 
So he as a Christian ne'er would injure 

Aught of human kind, 
And yet would trouble for opponent 

Indirectly find. 
Phi Kappa hung upon his morning, 

Lingered on his night, 
With eating, recitation, worship, 

Mingled his delight. 
'T was dreamt of, fondled like a baby, 

Never kept from sight. 
Let 's pledge him with a draft o'erflowing 

From the heart's best wine, 
To his memory tears bedewing 

Our fraternal shrine. 

My muse cannot withhold a tribute 

Crowning woman's name, 
To Greek a Juno, France a Joan 

She would almost shame. 
Where'er her sex could lend assistance, 

Constant was she there ; 
In pain and sickness and dejection 

Volunteered her care — 



88> Alpha Delta Phi Poems. 

Repelled a slander toward a brother, 
As 'gainst her 't were given, 

And while an earthly comfort yielding 
Nearer lured to Heaven. 

And now as swift the hour advances 

Toward the final bell, 
I '11 fold my leaves like wearied flowers 

Sleeping in the dell, 
And as the flowers shall reawaken 

In the morning light, 
May we rejoin our brethren taken, 

When we 've passed the night. 
I hope injustice has not fallen 

From a wayward pen, 
And if it has that you '11 forgive me 

Ere we meet again, 
And may the graft that we have planted 

On the old tree stand, 
And add a blessing to each college, 

Also to our land. 



CHRISTMAS POEMS. 




CHRISTMAS POEMS. 



CHRISTMAS MEDITATIONS. 




HILE I sit musing this evening, 
Home scenes inspiring a song, 

Thoughts of my youth would I gather, 
Which to these visions belong. 



Christmas is weaving its garlands, 
Sending its presents to cheer, 

Lines of a brother I send thee 
Hallowed by memories dear. 



Blest was the group of our childhood, 
Watched with its tenderest care, 

When sorrow's cloud overshadowed 
Always an iris was there. 



Christinas Poems. 

Bright were illusions, now broken, 

Precious the faces, now gone ; 
Fresh were the pleasures inviting 

Never in after years known. 

Grand was the old-fashioned yule-log, 

Melting the frosts like the sun, 
Or, like a kind nature beaming, — 

Welcomes withholding from none. 

Icy winds scattered the snow-flakes. 

Shook the bare limbs of the trees : 
Warm hearts with good cheer at Christmas, 

Arctic winds never could freeze. 

Sympathy gave to the needy. — 

Those without fuel or food ; 
Outflowed a holiday bounty. 

Where it might do the most good. 

Oft I recall those revered ones. 

Seeking the tendrils to train. 
Whose words, like manna from heaven, 

Never shall reach us again. 

Vivid that group seems this evening. 

Ever)- bright face do I see : 
Yet am I mocked by my senses. 

Most from their troubles are free. 



Christmas Poems. 93 

May the sweet glamour, dear sister. 

Picturing days that are past. 
Change to reality fadeless. 

Where such bright visions will last. 

Gold is much valued of metals, 

Chiefly because it is rare ; 
Home do we cherish more dearly. 

When fewer numbers are there. 

Hence do we cling to each other, 

Even as wave clings to wave, 
'Mid the long lost and forgotten, 

Each cherished link would we save. 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

HARK ! those strains, so sweetly falling, 
On that festal morn ! 
To our hearts are they recalling, 

Christ, our King, was born. 
He has come to give a blessing 

To the poor, the sad ; 
He has come with kind caressing 
Making children glad. 

Chorus. 
Hark ! those strains so sweetly falling, 

On that festal morn ! 
To our hearts are they recalling, 

Christ, our King, was bom. 



94 Christmas Poems. 

Hie we to the lowly manger, 

At the village inn ; 
Let us greet the wondrous stranger 

Saving all from sin ; 
Let us bring a royal treasure, 

Like the wise of old ; 
Love sincere and without measure, 

Better far than gold. 
Chorus. — Hark, etc. 

What though wintry winds are blowing 

Leaves from off the tree ; 
And no more the flocks are lowing, 

On the upland lea; 
Christ each little lamb is tending, 

Folding it with care ; 
From the storms of life defending, 

From its chilling air. 
Chorus. — Hark, etc. 

May those angels, at the dawning, 

Singing in the sky, 
Ever with a kindly warning 

Bid the tempter fly. 
When no more on earth is given 

Joy like this to-day, 
May such messengers of Heaven 

Bear our souls away. 
Chorus. — Hark, etc. 



Christmas Poems. 95 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

WITHIN a stable cold and drear, 
The Lord of life is born ; 
While lowly shepherds watching near 

Salute the Christmas morn ; 
A light is shed to cheer the gloom, 

'T is not the sunbeam's ray j 
It shines to banish Sin's dark doom, 
As angels wake the day. 

Chorus. 
Prolong, ye bells, the strain divine, 

Ye choirs, choice anthems sound ; 
The fir tree bring, the laurel, pine — 

For Peace on earth is found. 

O mother, watching o'er thy child, 

Enrolled among Christ's poor, 
Thy burden cast on Jesus mild, 

And He will bless thy store ; 
A Christ descends to free mankind, 

From each enslaving fear, 
The careworn, needy, lost to find, 

And stay the falling tear. 
Chorus. — Prolong, etc. 



96 Christmas Poems. 

Oh, boast not thou of gold and gems, 

Beyond thy fellows placed ; 
When He, supreme in loftiest realms, 

So mean a lot embraced ; 
The manger mocks vain mortal pride, 

Of station, wealth or birth, — 
Exalts a Saviour crucified 

Above the thrones of earth. 
Chorus. — Prolong, etc. 

And ye engrossed with self alone 

Of graceless frozen heart, 
For past remissness quick atone, 

And of thy means impart ; 
" To live for others," glorious thought, 

The best by Bethlehem given, 
In every Christian soul 't is wrought, 

It rules the Courts of Heaven. 
Chorus. — Prolong, etc. 



TO A FRIEND 
BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY. 

THE brightest day on earth 
Was that which gave thee birth. 
Emmanuel was born 
Upon thy natal morn ; 



Christmas Poems. 97 

Divine incarnate love 
Descended from above. 
With many thou art given 
This richest boon of Heaven. 
May joys with thee abide 
Secured through Christmastide, 
And grief stay but awhile 
Dispersed by Jesus' smile. 



ON VIEWING A PICTURE ENTITLED 
" THE EMPTY STOCKING." 

'^r IS Christmas eve, with whistling wind 
X. And drifting snow and frozen stream, 

While fancies weird excite the mind, 
And fireside joys more pleasant seem. 

In yonder cot no contrast glows, 
To chase the gloom of Wintertide ; 

No larder's store, nor ember shows, 
The picture smiles with winsome side. 

A widow sits absorbed in grief, 
With Elsie nigh, a loving child ; 

In vain she looks for some relief, 

As storm-fiends shriek 'mid orgies wild. 



9 8 Christmas Poems. 

With tone assuring, Elsie's voice 

Suggests the coming Christmas morn ; 

Like all beside, would she rejoice 

To hail the day when Christ was born. 

" Mama," she says, with fondest look, 
" My stocking must I hang this eve 
In which I know some toy or book 
Good Santa Claus will surely leave." 

The mother gives a glance of pain, 
As childish hopes are lifted high ; 

Without one wish to prove them vain 
She says, while 'scapes a mournful sigh, 

" Your stocking do not hang to-night, 

Perchance you may not find it filled ; " 
She mused on their impoverished plight, 
With threadbare clothing, hungry, chilled. 

" O yes, I must, I 've prayed to-day, 
Mama, you should no longer weep, 
That Santa Claus would wipe away 
Your tears by gifts while fast asleep." 

" God bless you for that prayer, my dear," 
The widow says, — " I '11 ne'er repine, 
But trust His word, nor longer fear, 

Though Christmas gifts should not be mine." 



Christmas Poems. 99 

A spacious mansion full of light, 

Defies the raging storm without ; 
Profusely spread, exposed to sight, 

Are Christmas favors strewn about; 

French dolls attired in silk and lace, 

That roll their eyes and even talk, 
And dolls that move from place to place, 

By strange contrivance made to walk. 

Choice albums bound in gold and calf, 

And Huyler's latest bonbons rare, 
And monkeys stuffed that make you laugh, 

With greater beasts that make you stare. 

Amid the group of various sort 

Are puzzles, games, and dancing-jacks; 

Fierce soldiers that have never fought, 
And riders swarth on camels' backs. 

But time would fail to mention all 
Arrayed to cheer the boys and girls, 

From humming-top and bat and ball 
To mincing maids with bangs and curls. 

A little one with soulful eyes, 

While nestled in her downy bed, 
With earnest words her mother plies, 

Disclosing plans of heart and head. 

LOFGr 



Christinas Poems. 

She oft, it seems, across the street, 
The widow saw with daughter fair, 

Whom always she would kindly greet, 
Though driven with a coach and pair. 

Says she, " Mama, I hope and pray 
That Santa Claus will surely bring 

Dear Elsie Brown, on Christmas day, 
Some useful and some pretty thing. 

The mother seems so very poor, 

And works so hard though wan and pale ; 
Just leave a present at the door, 

Lest Santa Claus should chance to fail." 

The parent views with tender look 
Her child so pure, so full of love ; 

Reverting then to toy or book, 
Sure Elsie's prayer is heard above. 



Bright Christmas comes with cloudless sky, 
The earth is clad in bridal white ; 

While " Glory be to God on high," 

Might well resound from height to height. 

To seek her stocking Elsie goes, 
But finds it empty as when hung, 

Her heart with sorrow overflows, 
By deepest disappointment wrung. 



Christmas Poems. 

But lo, the cottage door she opes, 
And silken hose salute her eyes ; 

The contents seen awake new hopes, 
As charmed she stands in mute surprise. 

A handsome purse with silver gleams, 
And dolls, with toys and sweets appear; 

A book, with bright-hued pictures beams, 
And tales to suit the coming year. 

An order in her mother's name, 

She then perceives,— to fill the hours 

With work, for food and friendly flame, 
When cold the blasts and dead the flowers. 

Each empty stocking God doth fill, 
If we His faithful children prove ; 

It only rests to do His will, 

To wait His time,— to look above. 



TO A BEREAVED FRIEND. 

HATH Christmas no bright wreaths for thee ? 
Such woe is thine ? 
Why wilt thou with the cypress gloom 

Each thought entwine ? 
Not tears, but smiles become these days, 

Blithesome through Love. 
The heart should echo songs of praise, 



IOI 



102 Christmas Poems, 

Swelling above. 
Let Grief depart to Night's abode, 

With sable pall, 
Since, in the East that Star arose 

Beaming for all. 
The Lord, who with resistless word, 

Brought life at Nain, 
Would rend the shroud that wraps thy soul, 

Raise joy again. 
The blended notes that filled the sky, 

By angels given, 
Proclaim — the dead in Christ are one — 

Household in Heaven. 
The rarest flowers will often bloom, 

'Mid damp and shade, 
From present sorrow blessings may 

Thy life pervade. 
Oh, let the light of Christmastide, 

And the New Year, 
Reveal the kindness hid beneath, 

Where frowns appear. 



Christmas Poems. 



103 



THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM. 

SUCH babe no record can recall 
As that whose Light 
Awoke one night 
Within a dank and dismal stall. 

And little Bethlehem great became, 

Through impulse given 

Direct from Heaven 
By reason of the Infant's fame. 

And greatness crowns the feeblest soul 

Within whose breast 

This Babe finds rest, 
Gigantic made through self-control. 

T is Bethlehem's Child rings Christmas peal, 

Prompts generous hands 

Throughout all lands, 
Makes even arctic bosoms feel. 

And never shall those heart-strains die, 

As belfries sound 

The cycle's round,— 
For Bethlehem's Babe a world doth sigh. 



104 Christmas Poems. 

"GOD IS LOVE." 
Chorus. 

GOD is love! He sent His Son. 
Through His love the lost are won ; 
Born within a cattle stall, 
Now he reigns the King of all. 

Hence shall pleasure fill the'hour. 
Tempered in its sacred bower, 
Home and altar bloom like May 
On the Saviour's Natal Day. 

Christmas needs a Christmas heart. 
From its depth let music start ; 
Else far better if were heard 
Naught but voice of rill or bird. 

Traffic smile and loom resound, 
Joy ! ye tillers of the ground ; 
Banners stained, forever furled — 
Grieve no more a Christian World. 

Peace on land, and peace at sea, 
Peace with Heaven, the One in Three; 
Thus attuned to nature's chord, 
Each may sing the Incarnate Lord. 



Christmas Poems, 



CHRISTMAS. 

CHRIST came to lift the heart 
Within a troubled world, — 
To draw the cruel dart 

By rude misfortune hurled ; 
Hence Yuletide lights its welcome blaze, 
And mocks the bleak year's slanting rays. 

Resisting dogmas wane 

As opes the purple morn, 
Revealing joy to pain ; 

For husks the yellow corn, 
A spark the ready straw ignites, 
So quick the festal Name incites. 

O altruistic Star! 

Thou rulest o'er the time 
That calls forth pleasure's car 

With garland, jest, and rhyme. 
E'en stoicism 'mid the train 

Which, yoked to folly, drives amain. 

Benevolence asleep 

Beneath oblivion's veil 
No opiate can keep, 

As voices cry, "All hail!" 
Reincarnate is Christ the while, 
When heavenly love makes Winter smile. 



"5 



io6 Christmas Poems. 



SOUND THE TRUMPET TO THE SKY. 

AS we hail the birth of Spring, 
When the songsters wake and sing 
And the fettered streamlets dance 
'Neath the sunlight's earlier glance, 
So the world doth welcome thee, 
Christmas with thy jubilee. 

Joy starts forth from sorrow's spell 
Like the flowret in a dell, 
Echo bears its cheery word 
Where its voice is seldom heard, 
Rung from belfry, sung by choir, 
Kindling a resistless fire. 

Beauty then takes up the theme, 
Picturing her rarest dream, 
Borrows Nature's every hue, 
Bringing forth the old and new ; 
Found in temples and in homes, 
Beauty charms where'er she roams. 

Loving hearts with ready hand 
Scatter favors through the land, 
Pleasure to the giver blessed 
Rising like an ocean crest, 



Christmas Poems. 107 

New affections seek the light, 
Old contentions fade from sight. 

Chorus. 

Sound the trumpet to the sky, 
Lift the bannered cross on high, 
Wave the palm 'mid ice and snow, 
Let glad tidings onward flow, 
Hark! the Lord of Life is now 
Calling each to pay his vow. 



LIGHT FROM THE MANGER. 

Air: " Araby's Daughter. " 

WHAT light scatters gloom 'mid the gray of the 
morning 
That dims all the glittering hosts of the sky, 
Above it a rainbow in beauty adorning, 
Declaring that love in its glory is nigh? 

It beams on the world that in wisdom is growing, 
When ignorance conquered will fail to mislead, 

Which freedom on downtrodden nations bestowing, 
From Truth's smiling field tares of error will weed. 

Lo, dawn of a day that no night shade can banish, 
Pure light of the Lamb that in Heaven will shine 



108 Christmas Poems. 

When sun, moon, and stars from their courses must vanish, 
And all things will glow in a radiance divine. 

Shine on then, shine on 'mid each Winter of sadness, 
And let not despair any prospect encloud ; 

Attune every heart to the music of gladness, 

That pleasure of Christmas ring far and ring loud. 

Chorus. 

The angels are winging 

Their way, and are singing, 
Such strains as were never by man heard before, 

How welcome those voices to storm-driven voyagers, 
Inviting to safety and rest on the shore. 



HANG THE WREATH UPON THE WALL. 

HANG the wreath upon the wall, 
Let it speak the truth for all ; 
Let it tell its own sweet story 
Of the Lord of life and glory ; 
Who a rainbow from on high 
Bade the storms of passion fly. 

Let the ivy trailing low, 
Jesus' humble birthplace show ; 
How humility He places 
Far above the other graces ; 



Christmas Poems. 

Plants a modest lily where 
Flaunting bloom had shocked the air. 

Let the laurel so renowned, 
Wherewith victory is crowned, 
Show immortal prizes given 
To the heroes gaining Heaven ; 
Winning in that glorious strife 
Gateway to eternal life. 

From the tree that straightest grows 
Let the spray of pine disclose ; 
Christ, our righteousness, receiving 
Sinful mortals when believing ; 
Raising those who oft in vain 
Strive to cancel guilt's deep stain. 

And the holly one descries, 
Lighted up with ruby eyes ; 
These, infused with blood atoning, 
Bid remorse to cease its moaning ; 
Emblems pure what hopes ye spell, 
Chiming with the Christmas bell! 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

OSING to Him who gave us all 
That goodness can bestow ; 
Let each obey the trumpet call 
That joy should onward go. 



109 



no Christmas Poems. 

His love is whispered by the breeze, 
Perfumes and tints the flower; 

It gilds the cloud with morning light, 
In summer cools the shower. 

Chorus. — O sing to Him, etc. 

He made the blind to see the face 
Of kinsman and of friend ; 

He caused the lame and halt to leap, 
The dumb man's woe to end. 

Chorus. — O sing to Him, etc. 

He made the deaf to hear the sigh 
Of grove, or laugh of rill ; 

The sound of labor from the vale, 
Or chimes upon the hill. 

Chorus. — O sing to Him, etc. 

He came the wounded soul to heal, 
That hope might never cease ; 

He came to silence war's alarm, 
He came— the Prince of Peace. 

Chorus. — O sing to Him, etc. 



Christmas Poems. 



STAR OF BETHLEHEM EVER SHINE. 

STAR of Bethlehem ever shine 
From thy firmament divine, 
Penetrate the midnight pole 
Cheer where tropic heats control, 
Let each ripple catch thy beam 
On midocean or the stream. 

Shine where hate and selfishness 
Kindle strife or breed distress, 
Where misrule degrades the power 
Granted as a heavenly dower, 
And where slaves reluctant toil, 
Crimsoning the mournful soil. 

Shine where envy withers hearts 
Or the sting of conscience smarts, 
Where a noble mind is crazed, 
Where religion's path is hazed, 
Strengthen weakness, temper might, 
Shine till wrong is changed to right. 



EASTER POEMS. 




EASTER POEMS. 



EASTER CAROL. 

ET music swell in notes profound, 
As ocean's rolling waves resound. 
Behold a Saviour surely found ! 
As springs the lion from his cave, 
He burst the confines of the grave, 
That Love's full work might win and save. 




The floweret opening to the light, 
When peeping from her wintry night, 
Proclaims that death has lost its blight. 
The rill that laughs through ice and snow, 
Discourses in its prattling flow 
Of mercy free to all below. 



u6 Easter Poems. 



And now the people everywhere 
With joy to sacred courts repair, 
While birds sing anthems in the air, 
Rebuking those who stand aloof 
From tidings of eternal proof 
Inwoven as with warp and woof. 

A stumbling-stone to faith, controlled 
Until an Easter hand unrolled 
This barrier to the Christian fold. 
And see the heavenly gates ajar 
Invite the heathen from afar 
To test the story of a star. 



THE EASTER SONG. 

SING loud the Easter song, 
Its story is not long. 
'T is spoken in a breath : 
The Saviour conquered death! 
'T is warbled by the bird 
Whose spring-tide voice is heard* 
'T is told throughout the vale 
By fragrance we inhale, 
While every verdant lawn 
Reveals it to the dawn. 

The brook that laughs and sings, 
From fetters freed, now brings 



Easter Poems. 117 

The news that from His side 
There came a healing tide, 
That 'mid the pastures green 
The wave of life is seen. 
The welcome season's birth 
That leaves a wintry dearth, 
The hopes renewed, that glow 
Like beams which melt the snow, 
Inform us of love's power 
That rules this favored hour. 



TO AN EASTER LILY 

BORN of earth, yet pure and white 
In thy stately bloom, 
Like a beam of heavenly light 
Thou dost fill the room. 

Pray, art thou an angel's wing, 

With thy breath so sweet, 
Wafting Eden's offering 

Happy souls to greet? 

How like Charity's expanse 

Wide thy petals ope, 
Seeking blessings to enhance 

In thy loving scope! 



n8 Easter Poems. 

Stretching forth with saintly smile 

Every virgin leaf, 
Glory teeming all the while 

In thine hour so brief. 

May we spring from moil and blight, 
As didst thou from sod, 

Robed like thee in vestments white 
Blanched through faith in God. 



THE MESSAGE OF THE BELLS. 

ROUSE the soul, I hear a chime 
Waking hope with sacred rhyme, 
Pealing strains the angels sing, 
Hear ye not a fluttering wing? 

Buds arisen from the dead 
Gratefully their incense shed, 
And the purling brook set free 
Tells the story to the sea. 

Hark a message to the poor 
Speaks of Heaven's boundless store, 
Ringing to the halt, the blind, 
Where Bethesda's pool to find. 

Art and Science hear a voice 
Bidding Progress to rejoice ; 



Easter Poems. n^ 

Thrift, Humanity must own, 

Knowledge brought them from the throne. 

Soothing notes disarm the bier, 
Blotting out Bereavement's tear, 
Pointing to an unbarred door 
Screening from the Evermore. 

Clang ye bells! As glow-worm's light, 
Oft confounds perplexing night, 
He within a manger born. 
Scatters doubt on Easter morn. 



ADIRONDACK POEMS 





ADIRONDACK POEMS. 

• 

ST. HUBERTS ISLE. 

NUMBER ONE. 

'ID Adirondack beauty, Racquette Lake appears, 
The fairest called, by some, of all the liquid chain ; 
Its striking promontories, and its mountain views, 
Its various windings, the surprises of its shores, 
The smoothness, clearness of its water, when the winds 
Allayed, refuse awhile to vex the elements, — 
A picturesqueness give to fill a poet's dream. 
On Racquette is an island scarce two acres broad, 
The name is from St. Hubert, patron of the chase, 
And well is it bestowed where choicest game abounds. 
A church within its wood both grace and nature blend, 
Near which are found the hemlock, pine, the spruce, and 

fern. 
St. Hubert's jagged front, rude paths and rustic bridge, 
Its scattered branches, rocks part clad in hoary moss, 

123 



124 Adirondack Poems. 

The squirrel, reckless, freely bounding at its will, 
The bird that fearless builds her nest, and pours her lay,— 
Declare a spot remote, unfettered by the bands, 
Enforcing mockeries — the bane of civil life. 
This isle is fitly consecrated to its God. 
This tenderloin of woodland doth Religion claim. 
An altar has it framed, and rest for him who serves. 
Protected is the shrine like that by Moses built ; 
Yet touch profane no dreadful statute here prevents, 
But Reverence — assured through local metes and bounds. 
Upon that holy day which sanctifies the seven, 
If cloudless and serene the surface of the lake, 
Like pinions moving, oars are plied the church to reach ; 
No vehicle with clatter shocks the air composed, 
But, as by silent wing of angels, souls are borne 
To where a common sentiment invites to kneel. 
Within a leaf- girt harbor are the boats made fast, 
Or, at a nearer landing lifted on a rock. 
When ends the tolling of the bell that sweet resounds, 
The voice of supplication and of praise is heard. 
The preacher then, like John within the wilderness, 
The truth proclaims, inspired by unseen presence felt. 
When all have paid their homage to the forest's Lord, 
On Him their burthens casting 'mid primeval works, — 
The feeble and the strong, the hunter and the guide 
To camp in view, or nestling down some bay, depart. 
Then o'er the sacred island stillness reigns again, 
Save where the sparrow chirrups or bee hums 'mid the 
flowers. 



Adirondack Poems. 125 

ST. HUBERTS ISLE. 

NUMBER TWO. 

ON Racquette Lake, St. Hubert's Island 
Arrests the eye — a lovely highland, 
A noted feature in the skyland. 
A church, with rectory is seen, 
Inclosed by flower and evergreen, 
A guide to point the wandering mind, 
The regions of the soul to find. 

The wave is oft with splendors glowing, 
The majesty of sunset showing, 
A richness o'er the landscape throwing. 
The squirrel boldly climbs the tree, 
The bird and butterfly soar free, 
Protected near devotion's seat, — 
From harmful snare, — a sure retreat. 

Like doves unto their windows flying, 

Note worshipers in boats outlying, 

Who, toward the House of God are hieing. 

The man of leisure and of wealth, 

The invalid in search of health j 

The huntsmen who 'mid deerland roam, 

Now seek this consecrated Home. 



126 Adirondack Poems. 

The day is fading on the island, 
The worshipers have left the highland, 
Far down the lake or on the nighland. 
Now vanished is the glare of day, 
The moon asserts her gentle sway; 
And seems with loving smile to bless, 
This shrine within the wilderness. 



SONG OF THE OPEN CAMP. 

NUMBER ONE. 

,r \ y IS pleasant, after a weary tramp, 

X To meet at night in the open camp, 
To feel the glow of the genial blaze, 
That conquers gloom by its welcome rays. 
We hear of many a trophy won, 
By flood and field with the rod and gun; 
The welkin rings with the song and jest, 
Till sleep steals on and enforces rest. 

The tie of friendship is always dear, 
Let those it blesses be far or near, 
A gem on shore or a pearl at sea, 
A prize of age or of youthful glee, — 
It gives content when all else hath flown, 
Their names it hallows when friends have gone. 
Not more on earth doth its charm inspire 
Than when invoked by the camp and fire. 



Adirondack Poems. 

But few enjoyments we mortals know 
With strange mosaic of weal and woe ; 
The blame for which may be ours or not 
As each has used or abused his lot. 

But zest is found that we ne'er forget 

A beam of hope ere the sun has set,— 
It cheers by lake and by mountain spire, 
In open camp with its social fire. 

SONG OF THE OPEN CAMP. 

NUMBER TWO. 

IET jocund mirth beguile with song, 
-> The camp-fire burns to-night ; 
To us the sources true belong, 
Whence flows a pure delight. 
That summer's dream will soon be o'er 

Is traced on flower and leaf, 
Use well the moments yet in store 
Of earth's enjoyments brief. 

Let Fancy weave to-morrow's sport, 

Of deer hunt, rod and reel, 
Of base-ball and the tennis-court, 

Where wildwood odors steal ; 
But slighting not the guide boat's course, 

Through inlet, lake, and creek, 
To where the rapids' noise and force, 

Dispute the point we seek. 



12 



128 Adirondack Poems. 

Yet Wisdom's voice with loud demand, 

Uncertain schemes would crush, 
It much prefers the " bird in hand, 

To two within the bush." 
So ere the day, may each his part 

Perform in blithesome mood, 
Reproving every churlish heart, 

That scorns a present good. 



SONG OF THE OPEN CAMP. 

NUMBER THREE. 

P the mountain, 



u 



Towards the fountain, 
Jubilant notes prolong; 

Earth rejoices, 

Distant voices 
Echoing our camp-fire song. 

Merry we carol to Hesperus far, 
Drink to the moon from our cold-water bar 
Fragrance of woodland alluring to stay, 
Rivulet music inspiring our lay ; 

Chorus. — Up the mountain, etc. 

Proud emotion 
Like the ocean, 
Swelling and surging on, 



Adirondack Poems. 129 

Seems revealing 
Nature's healing — 
Life — 'mid our pleasures won. 

Free are our spirits from burthens released, 
Freely we breathe — every muscle increased, 
Fashion's restraints in these wilds are ne'er found, 
Warbling of birds shuts out traffic's dull sound. 

Chorus. 

'Mid the ringing 

Of the singing 
Guides draw near fire, to sate ; 

Flames are rising, 

Night surprising, — 
Love — thus o'ermasters hate. 

Often we think of some others at home, 
Fondly devising that hither they come, 
Here at the open camp joining in sports, 
Princes might covet as pastime for courts. 

Chorus. 

THE BEAR IN THE ADIRONDACK^. 

THE first bear I ever met in the Adirondacks, 
Had such a paw 
And such a jaw, 
As did my courage sorely tax. 



x 3° Adiro7idack Poems. 

One day direct to Golden Beach 
We rowed, and, when about to reach 

The strand, 

A figure dark, 

Upon a lark, 
At frightened chickens rudely stared, 
While, ogre-like, his eye-balls glared. 

A lady in the boat who sat, 
Quite anxious, queried, " What is that ? 
A dog ?" — 
" The critter there ? 
An old black bear," — 
The guide said, resting on his oar; 
Her pulse leaped higher than before. 

To youth, upon the land espied, 
" A bear, a bear," the lady cried, 
" Run, run." 
Some Hectors flew, 
And shouted too ; 
While panting for a gory fray, 
They sought their arms without delay. 

The uproar caused the bear to go, 
But only with a movement slow 
And calm; 
When out of sight 
The squad showed fight, 



Adirondack Poems. 131 

And made a Balaklava charge, — 
But not too near the brute at large. 

When speedily they all had fired, 
Judiciously they all retired 

Unhurt. 

They shot, pray where ? 

Oh ! in the air ; 
These heroes wise, who came away, 
Prepared to fight another day. 

Advancing from his sure retreat, 
The monster yet may chickens eat — 

And men. 

O lucky bear 

That was n't there ! 
Fair maidens o'er the warriors raved, 
Who Bruin and themselves had savedo 




MISCELLANEOUS. 





MISCELLANEOUS. 

• 

OTONDA. 

AN INDIAN STORY. 

iOT long ago, by some now living seen," there 
grew a child, 
Adorning like a flower or bird or laughing rill, 
a wild. 
His hair as raven plumage black, and arrowy straight, fell 

o'er 
An ample brow, whose outline grand the look of genius 

wore; 
And honesty informed an eye that braved the face of day, 
Though dreamy as the mist at times and soft as moonlight 

ray. 
More agile scarce when climbing steep the lithe and bound- 
ing roe 



136 Aliscellaneous. 

Than he, nor yet more graceful as he learned to bend the 

bow. 
In treaty for a plot of land, its boundary to describe, 
A white man entertainment shared from members of his 

tribe. 
Attracted by the presence of this charming Indian boy, 
He wished to make him as his own, in ways of peace 

employ ; 
Would place him 'neath the influence of tutelage in town, 
Where culture and example good might lift him to renown, 
That like some tree from roughness hewn for purposes of art, 
He might, when trimmed and polished, serve to fill a 

nobler part 
Than that a forest training offered, incomplete the best, 
That aimed at skill in hunting or for gory scalps in quest. 
Through suavity and argument, made cogent by its style, 
The white man tried from darkness this young pagan to 

beguile ; 
He sketched a glowing picture of the city where he dwelt, 
He spoke of toys, confections, as adroit his way he felt, 
Exciting fancies dormant in an undeveloped soul, 
As wood ignited soon affects the hard and stolid coal ; 
And as the coal when once alive sends forth intenser heat, 
Ambition, first unmoved, his heart with inspiration beat. 



The child thus led to follow him, consent his parents gave, 
In hopes to see their favorite among the whites a brave — 
Presuming that as time rolled on to honor he would rise, 
Which prejudice would flee before like tears that friendship 
dries, 



Miscellaneous. r , « 

Reflecting that they both ere long must reach life's setting 



sun. 



While he whose happiness they sought, its course had just 

begun. 
They knew this stranger well, that always friendly to their 



race 



Whate'er he promised to perform no treachery would efface, 
That kindness was a lodestar of his head and of his heart, ' 
Which rendered them more willing with their child beloved 
to part. 

Hence fervid benedictions by the aged pair were given, 
Protectorship invoking that proceeds alone from Heaven, 
Displaying such affection as in man or beast is found, 
The sacred tie of earth — whereby celestials too are bound. 

To a different sphere Otonda went 

From the one he left behind; 

'T was a world of nature parted with, 

For a world by man designed ; 

An adieu he bade to storm-lashed cliffs, 

Where I Am speaks through the cloud 

E'en above where eagles build their nests 

Which defy the plundering crowd; 

From the awe-inspiring cataract's roar 

And the brooklet's tuneful play, 

And the hunting-ground his fathers roamed, 

A preserve of choicest prey. 

He must leave profuse enameling flowers, 

And the only friends he knew; 

Yea, a home — at least a home to him 

With a love at all times true. 



138 Miscellaneous. 

And for what exchange such haunts endeared, 

Intertwined with earliest thought ? 

Upon what could boyish interest live, 

When apart from scenes inwrought ? 

Upon nature cramped to senseless whim, 

To the school of fashion tamed, 

Her unique proportions scarce discerned, 

By the latest edict maimed, 

Where reduced to cold repression's will, 

Unallowed to speak one's self, 

The emotions full of import large 

Are like books upon a shelf. 

For a range where none his steps controlled 

Through the almost boundless halls, 

He must live confined where drooping forms 

Are empaled by city walls. 

For endurance born of simplest fare, 

Undisturbed by heat or cold, 

He must yield to softness luxury breeds, 

That like serpent coils enfold. 

He must risk disease from slightest cause, 

As from sparks the fires that rage, 

Where more quick ensue, from lust and wine, 

The infirmities of age ; 

Though in reach of pleasures most men crave, 

There must often be unrest 

For the natal sports in fatherland, 

For the free and open West. 

In time the boy was taught to bear 
His strange conditions through the care 



Miscellaneous. 

And kindness of his guardians new, 

Their guidance gentle as the dew. 

To him the white man's wife was drawn, 

Whose love went forth like sun at dawn, 

To brighten until noonday glow, 

As constant as the river's flow. 

To wedded ones who ne'er have known 

A child to bless the hours lone, 

If such be sent, though alien born, 

A void to fill in household lorn, 

'T is like some timely balm that heals, 

From unexpected source secured ; 

Within unfathomed depths it steals, 

Awakening yearnings long immured. 

Her husband, who Otonda brought, 

And she were not with children blessed ; 

With joyousness they both were fraught 

In finding this congenial guest. 

Years gone, the youth forgot the past; 
'T was like a dream that could not last, 
Like tales within the wigwam told, 
Departed memories of old. 
As portion of the native stock 
At length becomes the engrafted bough, 
As molecule is changed to rock, 
He seemed his race to disavow. 



Up springs the lark from rustling brake, 
Alert ambitious flight to take; 



[ 39 



1 40 Miscellaneous. 

Thus mind in him essayed to rise, 

And revel in expanding skies. 

He soon had scope — for, sent to school, 

The Indian by line and rule 

Began a course — some post to fill 

In future years through book-taught skill. 

The foremost 'mid the ranks he moved 

In education's steady march. 

To others dark — to him 't was light, 

Perceiving through acumen born, 

Transmitted by ancestral life, 

Where dissipation ne'er disturbed 

The healthful tide of nature's law. 

He mastered Greek and Latin roots, 

At figures showed rare cleverness, 

Wrote lucidly with flowing pen, 

Declaimed with dignity and ease ; 

He also, in athletic sports, 

Showed muscle of resistless force ; 

In agonistic strife he reached 

A gladiatorial mastery, 

Each triumph toned by humbleness. 

Successful thus, 't were passing strange 
Had Envy prompt, delinquent proved. 
On such occasion wide awake, 
Like Satan she appeared at last, 
With forked tongue ablaze with wrath. 
The tawny skin and savage birth 
Were stimulant to vent her spleen. 



Miscella?ieous. 141 

Professing him beneath contempt, 

Out-distanced schoolmates oft reviled. 

They taunted him with stinging words, 

Which more than blows will sometimes wound ; 

Like Joseph's brethren in league, 

Would e'en have killed had fear allowed. 

Assured by patience, one more rash 

The hated rival rudely struck. 

At this the fury of his race 

Shot forth with leonine effect ; 

With nerve sustained by anger pent, 

His every blow with vigor told. 

The leaders felled, a panic spread, 

Which scattered all as flee the alarmed 

When bursts the dreaded thunderbolt. 

Ere long the dastard spirit, cowed, 

Was changed to fawning compliment; 

And he, so envied and abused, 

A Hector or Achilles seemed. 

The admiration secret felt 

Was lavished on their conqueror ; 

And as the harrow breaks the sod 

And smooths the ground for planting seed, 

With bristling onslaught he subdued 

The roughness of his future path. 

And as the harrow fits the soil 

Most hard for seed to germinate, 

Good seed he caused to root, and grow 

The fruits of wisdom, 'mongst his foes — 



42 Miscellaneous. 

Beyond all cavil difference taught 
'Twixt blustering and bravery. 



The youth, advanced from school, to college went. 

On higher education eager bent ; 

Its elements inwrought, he waxed athirst 

In knowledge more recondite to be versed; 

From Virgil, Xenophon, and Cicero, 

To Plato, Livy, Homer would he go. 

'T were needless in collegiate course to say 
He foremost stood, as in the earlier day. 
If character on principle be placed, 
Its well-known record never is effaced, 
Whate'er detraction loudly may proclaim 
In futile effort to obscure a name; 
But most when principle is guided by 
That light which shines beyond the visual eye. 

When time had elapsed to receive his degree, 
On the stage he was chosen to speak ; 
An honor he honored whom all pressed to see, 
As though he were wizard or freak. 

Most glaring injustice imposed on his race, 
The subject of rostrum or pen, 
In romance was written, discussed in each place, 
Resounding from city and glen. 



Miscellaneous. 143 

Appropriate subject he culled for his theme 
Was treatment the Indian incurred, 
Where compact accepted, when candid 't would seem, 
Agreement was only in word. 

" The white man," he said, 
" Has depleted our tribes; 

From fastness to fastness they 're banished. 

Immense tracts are ceded for trivial return, 

Our lawful inheritance vanished. 

" Our women and children a holocaust made 
To suit the fierce Moloch of battle, 
Affrighting the timid, the feeble, the halt, 
We are robbed of our crops and our cattle. 

" The poison of alcohol sold in our midst 
Has opened worse sluices of sorrow. 
This curse of the pale-face, its illness and crime, 
From those who destroy us we borrow. 

" Do war-whoop and tomahawk frighten your homes, 
Dread ambuscade soldiers surprising ? 
As tiger beset in the jungle at bay, 
Defense must be shrewd in devising." 

When finished, an ocean-calm spread o'er the crowd, 
Whose silence awhile was unbroken ; 
Applause then, like ocean's roar waked by the storm, 
Of feeling profound was the token. 



144 Miscella?ieons. 

Of those who comprised the assembly that day 
Was one who belonged to his people ; 
With war-paint and snake-rattle, plumage and beads, 
O'er most there he towered like a steeple. 

For leagues had he traveled Otonda to find, 
Directed to where he was speaking ; 
Whom, when he perceived, with a wish to upbraid 
His spirit tumultuous was reeking. 

When all were retiring, each duty performed, 
Came forward the wrath-smitten stranger ; 
He greeted the hero, who sprang from his tribe, 
With a look and a voice full of danger. 

Remembering the tongue which he spoke as a child, 

The import of words now ejected 

The civilized son of the forest discerned, 

His slumbering nature affected. 

" You 've left us, though bloodhounds have scented 
our trail, 
Deserted a father and mother ; 
With war-notes resounding, the enemy near, 
You 're far from your post," spake the other. 

" The time must arrive when the white man will change 
Toward one a mere plaything of humor ; 
Detested our race, he will cast you aside, 
At spur of a whim or a rumor. 



Miscellaneous. 145 

Break loose from encumbrances none should endure. 
From chains in which falsehood has bound you ; 
Be free once again where great forests invite 
Unmortgaged dominion around you." 

Impressed by such rally to duty, and dreams 
Of hopes he had weakly forsaken, 
And ennuied by customs till lately unknown, 
Advice of the stranger was taken. 

Within his breast a conflict raged 
Like good and evil in the soul, 
His Christian nurture first prevailed, 
Then wilder impulse had control. 

Another Indian not unlike, 
Who high a West Point graduate stood, 
When once a soldier in the field 
Evinced the native thirst for blood. 

Amid the strife his war-whoop rang, 
Which startled comrades standing by ; 
And scalps from enemies secured 
With gloating joy he lifted high. 

It grieved him sore to bid farewell 
To foster-parents loved as kind, 
Who pointed to the endless life, 
Supplanting base idolatry. 
He sadly turned from those who gave 
The mental appetite its food, 



146 Mi see 11 a neons. 

Whose hunger met has decked the world 
With stars of magnitude the first, 
And breaks the chain of slavery, 
Which taint of birth, ignoble, mocks, 
Unclogging evolution's wheel, 
As tireless as the chariot steeds 
Wherewith Aurora brings the morn. 

At fiat spoken tears were shed 

By those who long had called him son; 

They told him should his purpose change 

Complexion from its dismal hue, 

And retrogressive step repair 

To haunts that now had lost their hold, 

He ne'er should find the threshold frown 

As he approached ; but open arms 

Would greet the absent one, as though 

Unslighted, tender guardianship. 

From civilized restraint set free, 

Otonda hied to whence he came, 

The place he deemed as once 't was known, 

Illumined by his fancy's flame. 

Thus oft we gild our childhood's haunts 

When years have shut them from our view, 

Forgetting that the earlier taste 

Was vastly different from the new. 

The Mississippi broad they passed, 

The buttonwood upon its bank, 

In midst of thickest forest plunged, 



Miscellaneous. 147 

And waded through the morass dank ; 
O'er prairies trod, the Rockies neared, 
Where grouse and buffalo defied 
The hunter's bullet from the East, 
Where sportsman's skill was seldom tried. 
At last the curling smoke betrayed 
The hut of aborigines, 
Where venison dried and calumet 
And arrowhead one often sees. 



Otonda to his people came, 
But far their wigwams were removed- 
Supplanted by progression's foot, 
He missed the places first he knew. 
He saw in early crudeness man, 
Primeval, scarcely touched by art, 
Not half-way in development, 
But seeming almost at the start. 

Before him hung the spoils of war, 
A gruesome show on every side, 
The silken locks once careful dressed 
By maiden or by luckless bride. 

Uncouth the habits that prevailed 
In food, in person, in attire ; 
Long used to ways of cleanliness, 
He shrank with loathing at the mire. 



48 Miscellaneous. 

Not told by comrade reticent, he learned 
His father and his mother both were gone 
Before the fullness of last August's moon, 
Earth's destiny attained — their work was done. 

A sadness overcame his deep disgust — 
For they to him were parents sealed by blood ; 
Harsh death his purpose mocked — to smooth the way 
Ere life's canoe had reached its final flood. 



What fellowship hath Christ with Belial, 

Or darkness, error's friend, with virtue's light ? 

Can two together walk except agreed ? 

Have birds of plumage different, common flight ? 

His every feeling militant forbade 

Communion with such grossness unrestrained; 

Yet while a dissonance so marked he felt, 

Otonda pitying friendship still retained. 

The student fresh from his scholastic walks, 
By intercourse select, refined, 
Not bred to sleep at last 'mong Indian mounds — 
For Academic groves far distant pined. 

The bond of parentage by death dissolved, 
Removing every hindrance to his bent, 
A voice within intruded on repose 
Until returning was his sole intent. 



Miscellaneous. 140 

Not many # days remaining with his tribe, 
Of whom but few in childhood he had known, 
He rode upon the wing of buoyant hope 
To reap the harvest that his toil had sown. 

And going where adoption's lessened power 
Was shaken by a red man's fervid plea, 
Adoption re-arose in pristine strength, 
As will relented in a like degree. 

The throbbing breast of love that never fails 
Increased its largess as attachment grew ! 
And him, by absence only nearer brought, 
Its yielding tenderness the closer drew. 

Delighted guardians welcomed his return, 
And thus fulfilled their promise ere he left. 
Each token in his room remained the same, 
As though of him they ne'er had been bereft 

Desiring some vocation to pursue, 
Nor wishing on indulgence to depend, 
Among the liberal three, the law his choice, 
Agreeable to wish and mental trend. 

Deciding thus, instruction he received 
'Neath guidance of a well-known advocate, 
Who as the sun makes earth to fructify 
Did he this budding mind accelerate. 



i go Miscellaneous. 

He mastered Chitty, Coke and Story, Kent ; 
Dry documents could draw, and learned to moot : 
In Cupid's court he also proved adept, 
O'erruled demurrer and pressed on his suit. 

The daughter of the lawyer waked the flame 
That kindled feeling unaroused before, 
Whose golden curls and tender eyes of blue 
A contrast to his dusky visage bore. 

Affection sought and found a hidden spell 
Its potency unveiled by look or speech ; 
It found a heaven-breathing sentiment 
That alien effort could not mar nor reach. 

He saw companionship for leisure hours 

When care like withered leaves from thoughts we 

shake, 
He saw companionship for troubled hours 
With everything we hold most dear at stake. 

In mood poetic he composed these lines, 
Descriptive of impression she had made : 
Accompanied by notes of the guitar, 
They oft had charmed when falls the evening shade. 

SONG. 

" I Iove thee for thy beaming eye, 
Thy thrilling voice, thy smile ; 
But better far I love thee, dear, 
For words that ne'er beguile. 



Miscellaneous. 151 

" I love thee for the tresses which 
Thy brow serene enwreath, 
But ah, my soul receives delight 
From thoughts so pure beneath. 

" I love thee for thy artlessness, 
The graces of thy form ; 
But much more for a spirit true 
In sunshine and in storm. 

" I love thee for the quiet joy 
Thy presence doth impart, 
But most I prize thee for that gem — 
A woman's faithful heart." 



He that weds for heart and mind 
True happiness is sure to find ; 
He that only beauty woos 
Will learn that love is blind. 
When entrapped by coin alone, 
The bread he asks becomes a stone ; 
If pomp and state the nuptial aim, 
He chance may win an empty name. 
A kingdom but a bauble seems 
With such a cheating fate ; 
Far better unknown peasant's lot 
Who dwells in neat and humble cot 
Contented with his mate. 



1 5 2 Miscellaneous. 

As sculpture lends to marble cold 
A grace that wins approving eye, 
So two with love, though lot obscure, 
May beauty know that cannot die. 

Alas ! the current of a tide 

Is changed in unexpected ways ; 

When smoothest flows the joyous stream, 

Some wildering storm its promise stays. 

Otonda, more than blessed thus far, 
His pathway purpled o'er by hope, 
Must learn how vain is fortune's dream, 
How truthless earthly horoscope. 

In time he sought the father's ear, 
Petitioned for the daughter's hand, 
Well knowing suit but null and void 
Unless approved by his command. 

A frown spread o'er the parent's brow 
When the suggestion first w r as made — 
Though fault in him he could not tell, 
He thought such union would degrade. 

A blank refusal was received ; 

It gave an unexpected shock, — 

An arrow driven in his breast 

Could scarce more rude his feelings mock 



Miscella neons. J 53 

The lawyer to Otonda said : 
Take cordial wishes for success — 
At home or at your work engaged, 
May Providence your pathway bless. 

Of different race from mine you came, 

By courtesy with us you dwell ; 

If wedded to my daughter — now 

'T were ill — the future who could tell ? " 

'T was not alone refusal given 

In words so terrible to hear, 

'T was slur upon his origin 

That brake most harshly on his ear : 

That effort would in vain attempt 
Race prejudice to keep at bay, 
The castle he had fondly built 
Must 'neath its fury melt away. 

He felt, though innocent, a brand 
Like Cain's was stamped upon his brow, 
That shunned and hated, though admired, 
To man's unfairness he must bow. 



Half crazed, he westward turned his face, 
And soon was lost amid the wood ; 
For days and nights he scarcely paused 
Till near a river vast he stood. 



154 Miscellaneous. 

. Then gazing on those waters dark, 
Beneath whose depths De Soto sleeps, 
One plunge he made — a great soul gone, 
Until his just award he reaps. 

So hearts may break and men may die 
Through blows of brutal ignorance; 
But love will live and cannot lie, 
Though hard and sad the sweet romance. 

'T were idle to portray her grief 
Who longest must its draught imbibe ; 
'T is said that, crushed, she found relief 
In self-devotion to his tribe. 

But let us turn from minor key 
And harp upon more pleasant theme ; 
Awake from sloth, Philanthropy, 
Cheer up, advance thy favored scheme. 

For now Minerva walks abroad, 
And bloody Mars lays down his sword ; 
The race a Pocahontas bred 
By Christian hands is gently led. 

Atlantic and Pacific tides 
Lave shores where not, as once, abides 
Race prejudice ; and all may see 
By mind is measured dignity. 



Miscellaneous, 155 

Behold ! a camp-fire cheerful burns 

To cheat the darkness and the chilliness of night, 

As, in a world of gloom from sin 

And superstition shrouding truth, beams gospel light. 

The wigwam stately palace shames, 

Which small may satisfy a humble mortal's wish ; 

And game, the mark of huntsman's skill, 

Is wide bestrewn — no richer on Lucullus' dish. 

Grotesque are seen in gay attire 

The red man and his squaw with slumbering papoose — 

The halo of religion o'er, 

Uplifting from the slough of moral notions loose. 

And as the queen of night that shines 

To gladden and to beautify 'mid moving spheres — 

Like Dorcas or like Lydia, 

Our heroine, exhorting them, a saint appears. 

Be calm thy rest, Otonda, then, 

As depth of Mississippi on a genial day ; 

Thy mission is fulfilled in her 

Whose soul is thine, although thy image be away. 



i ;6 Miscellaneous. 



THE LION'S FEAST. 

THE lion, famed as king of beasts, — the noblest of them 
all, — 
Will yet, as oft with royalty, play tricks both great and small ; 
Nay, sometimes like grimalkin, if intent upon his prey, 
So slyly steal along that none suspect him in the way. 

He sent an invitation once to animals around, 
Requesting they would feast within his palace under ground. 
Most flattering ! They could share such spoils as princely 

thieves can boast, 
While their rapacious enemy would smile, a gentle host ! 

This courtesy by most of them was joyfully received : 
If dubious the motive, his professions they believed. 
The fox, and other knowing ones, refused a lion's dish : 
They felt a chill suspicion of design beneath his wish. 



Complacent was the forest's lord at progress of his scheme, 
Most carefully dissembled lest murder it might seem ; 
So low was now his larder that few fragments were at hand, 
While thus supply might be obtained — the choicest in the 
land. 



Miscellaneous. 157 

Down went the guileless quadrupeds to dine in regal state, 
Not thinking that their carcasses his appetite would sate : 
The donkey, rabbit, mole, the deer, the sloth, the goat, 

the sheep — 
A jocund party, in his lair high festival to keep ! 

Most affable yet dignified, he greeted every guest, 
As one by one they filed along to answer his behest. 
He looked a kind approval, but his teeth were shown 

quite plain — 
They trembled, though he did not roar, but merely shook 

his mane. 

Among them soon a panic spread, perceiving no repast, 
But, freely scattered, well-picked bones, that made them 

stand aghast. 
Invectives at their foe they hurled, deluded by a snare — 
His lamb-like mood accounted for, his infamy laid bare. 

The lion 'mid their obloquy would justify his end, 

A plot most diabolical audaciously defend ; 

With sophistry expounded why he bade them to his 

cave, 
Where all, at mercy of his will, were far from chance to 

save 

' E'en animal most virtuous," said he, " would act the same 
As I have done, if hungry and enticed by tempting game. 
To stratagem resorting also you your prey secure — 
No crookedness a hindrance, if to catch it feeling sure. 



158 Miscellaneous. 

" Besides, I am the King of beasts, who, when the ground 

I paw 
And lift my voice, can hold the trembling forest leaves 

in awe : 
'T is also my prerogative, unquestioned autocrat, 
To treat my subjects as I please — from elephant to rat. 



; As man alone inferior creation may control, 
Thus lord of life and death to all dependents I am sole. 
Moreover, executioner who law's demand exalts, 
Offenders I destroy whene'er debased by hopeless faults." 



At which bold speech his victims, rendered desperate by 

fear, 
Essayed most ardent pleas to urge — a grim tribunal near: 
Although perchance aware that they were hoping against 

hope, 
Yet protestation offered they, within permissive scope. 



The donkey spoke : " Please name some cause why I 

should be destroyed — 
A burden-bearer, scolded, whipped, pray whom have 

I annoyed ? " 
• O stupid creature," said the lion, " neither coaxed nor 

driven ; 
With pointed steel, despite your bray, your vitals should 

be riven." 



Miscellaneous. 159 

With tearful eye his purity the graceful deer averred, 

Whose eloquence, with longing tooth, the Judge reluc- 
tant heard. 

- Weak fop," he said, " in love with self, reflected in the 
brook, 

Such emptiness decides your fate, though guileless you 
may look." 

No word they uttered could avail to check his bloody task; 
And all of them, disheartened, ceased his clemency to ask. 
Not long before the King began his subjects each to slay, 
The average amounting to one animal per day. 

Much royal condescension is mistrusted by the wise ; 
While simpletons are soon entrapped, as by the spider flies. 
The lion, as of right, will always keep a lion's share — 
To suit his savage purposes, his hapless victims tear. 

So demagogue political will feign a savory feast, 
Inviting his constituents, with cunning like this beast ; 
Or wily mining expert, with his billion corporate stock, 
Inflate a golden bubble till it burst with bankrupt-shock ; 

Or delegate in purple oft — though workmen be in rags — 
Call out his Knights of Labor, to supply his money-bags. 
Well fed upon a stipend, he can laugh within his sleeve, 
As Folly strikes for Slavery, while wives and children 
grieve. 



T 6o Miscellaneous. 



A WORD. 



NO word is lost when once 't is spoken, 
But echoes on the air ; 
Although to fragments sometimes broken, 

Its sound can naught impair. 
It travels to remotest regions, 

A spirit of unrest, 
Companion of the vocal legions 
Like birds without a nest. 

A word may make the culprit tremble, 

And bid his color flee, 
When judge and jury grave assemble 

And " guilty " the decree. 
A word may make the saddened cheerful 

When held in durance vile : 
If pardon be proclamed, the tearful 

No longer weep, but smile. 

When overcome by anxious feeling, 

Long tossed upon the deep, 
If " land " from one aloft be pealing 

Our fears are put to sleep. 
When war protracted scourges nations, 

Nor hopes of truce arise, 
A voice resounds to generations 

When " peace " salutes the skies. 



Miscella?ieous. 1 6 1 

The yes or no by lovers uttered 

A destiny foretells; 
Domestic storms to come are muttered, 

Or angel music swells. 
A word will states or nations sunder, 

Raise high or dash to earth, 
Like lightning scathe, alarm as thunder, 

Abundance cause or dearth. 

'T is like the dynamite that shatters 

The deep primeval rock, 
And aged fossils ruthless scatters 

In one appalling shock ; 
Or like the dynamite that blesses 

And not alone destroys — 
A force by which the world progresses, 

Imparting nameless joys. 

Perchance a word we now remember 

Of one long passed away ; 
It comes back in our life's December, 

A blossom of its May. 
Not volumes with such gentle power 

The depths of being wake — 
'T will linger to the latest hour 

For that loved sleeper's sake. 

Salvation — other words excelling — 

Throughout the Gospel shines ; 
Its promise mercy's lips are telling 

To lift each heart that pines. 



j 6 2 Miscellaneous. 

Beyond the firmament, pervasive, 
Outvoicing Ocean's roar, 

Beams this celestial term persuasive 
That fills the evermore. 



THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

OF ancestry ye came not 
The mock of tyrant will, 
Whose deeds of blood we name not — - 
Mere puppets bought to kill. 

Your sires strove not for plunder, 
The glamour of applause — 
They rushed 'mid warfare's thunder 
For freedom's noblest cause. 

They fought to slay all fighting, 
To build the throne of peace, 
A present wrong were righting 
That future wrong might cease. 

And mothers may ye boast of 
Who fired the patriot heart ; 
Such dames there was a host of, 
Each equal to her part. 



Miscellaneous. ^3 

They graced the humble kitchen, 
And parlor too as well, 
As jagged rocks the lichen, 
Or flowers grace the dell. 

From wheel and distaff plying 
The harpsichord they sought, 
In plainest garment vying 
As though of gold 't were wrought 

As lily in the valley 
Delights the scene around, 
From darkness did they rally — 
A joy 'mid grief profound. 

Ye honored as descendants, 
Exalt the name ye bear; 
Be liberty's defendants, 
Adorn the badge ye wear. 

'Mid national declension 
Through luxury and pride, 
With timely intervention 
Roll back each trait'rous tide. 

No overgrowth can harm us 
If woman interpose ; 
From threatening evil charm us 5 
And Yorktown's chief disclose. 



: 64 Miscella?ieons. 

Unrivaled is your mission, 
Which heedless ye profane ; 
'T is worthy all ambition — 
Its source without a stain. 



TO THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. 

THY classic dome in solemn worship greets the sky, 
No envying shadow dims the noonday sun, 
The candid light 
Shows marble white 
'Neath which the destinies of millions lie 
In Continental Congress erst begun. 

Serene thou smilest 'mid each conflict rude of state 
Which like a whirlwind shocks the peaceful soul, 
Rebuking those 
Mere useless floes 
Who block progression's tide by party hate, 
Whom sordid, not their country's, aims control. 

Fair Capitol, canst not through art to truth allure, 
Such harmony in thy proportions grand, 

With columns just 

Near patriot bust, 
With Doric and Corinthian model pure, 
Conceived where genius stayed barbaric hand. 



Miscellaneous. 165 

If they who law devise to meet a people's need 
Forget their weal who lifted them to place, 
'Gainst vile unrest 
Wilt thou protest, 
Like virtue ever scattering wholesome seed 
Where clamorous self the spirit's shrine disgrace. 

A group of sisters does the nation's flag entwine, 
As differing parts the human form compose; 

So ever hold 

As one enrolled 
The stars upon our heritage divine 
Which with consentient will at first uprose. 

No Pantheon of multifarious creeds art thou, 
Where war religions brought from every land— = 

Thy storied walls 

Assembly halls 
Respecting each conviction's honest vow — 
A monument to Freedom thou shalt stand. 



1 66 Miscellaneous. 



GENERAL VON MOLTKE. 

AT THE AGE OF NINETY. 

SOME iron men there be 
That stand as bulwarks in defense of 
country or of right ; 
The deepest gloom brings forth their light, 

A torch of victory. 
These Nestors come we know not whence 
Amid suspense. 

Von Moltke silent, famed 
For action, not for boastful word, stands thus among the few 
Which Austria, France, and Denmark knew. 

Both great and good is named 
This chief of council and the sword 
So wide adored. 

Unflinching Bismarck towers, 
And so the conqueror renowned — that youth may borrow 
heart, 
Learn virtues that 'mid peace depart. 

To summon patriot powers 
These living monuments are found 
Of record sound. 



Miscellaneous. 167 

We all incentive need 
From signals of a well-spent past, those heroes that were wont 
'Mid thickening shot to brave the front, 

Not born to follow, but to lead, — 
Whose stalwart lives, achievements vast, 

Will time outlast. 



LORD TENNYSON. 

IN beauty and monition lifts the tall cathedral spire, 
A way mark for each pilgrim who makes earth or 
heaven his goal : 
So upward wreathes and faithful points thy true poetic fire, 
A lofty guide for earthly art, or thought that wakes the 
soul. 



THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF WILLIAM 
TECUMSEH SHERMAN. 

THE sands of life run golden, 
Telling hours away ; 
With God are we beholden 
To waste not by delay. 



68 Miscellaneous. 



He oft prolongs the season, 

Work to do complete, 
Till force or will or reason 

Makes end and purpose meet. 

'T is well ripe age is given 
One whom honor claims; 

His compeers speak from Heaven, 
His toil the sluggard shames. 

To duty's voice he yielded, 
Startling Georgia's shore; 

The cause of man he shielded 
Till arms could do no more. 

And now is he fulfilling 

Gentle calls of peace ; 
A kindly power distilling 

That nevermore will cease. 

As feared by foes opposing, 

Loved he is by friends ; 
Warm greetings now disclosing 

The spell his presence lends. 

May countless years still cluster, 

Health and joy remain, 
Before the final muster 

The unseen heights to gain. 



Miscella ueous. 169 



NOVEMBER MUSINGS. 

THE withered and the falling leaf 
O'er hill and plain is scattered: 
It tells us, like the golden sheaf, 
How summer dreams are shattered. 

The winds more chilly sweep along, 
Where flowers have departed, 

And scarce we hear the wood-bird's song, 
While comrades south have started. 

Proud beauty, throned in gorgeous prime, 
With freshness was surrounded; 

Her pomp subdued suggests the time 
When wintry blasts are sounded. 

Reflection, pondering that sleep 

To which we all are hasting, 
Recalls the fruits we failed to reap, 

Probation's moments wasting. 

But autumn leaves with brilliant hues 
Cheat Nature of her sadness ; 

Illusion charms the soul that views, 
Till sighs are lost in gladness. 



170 Miscellaneous. 

And though we trace the lessening bloom 
That warns us of life's ending, 

Through faith some power will banish gloom, 
A radiant beam descending. 



MY FRIEND. 

I HAVE a true Friend, far distant his home, 
And yet at my bidding most willing to come. 
With him may be found 
A balm for each wound 
Afflicting — as over life's desert we roam. 

With nothing below the spirit to cheer, 

To bring back the smile and to banish the tear, 

He reaches the soul 

Which sorrows control, 
And makes above darkness the light to appear. 

When summer friends go, like glare of the day, 
Who only are wont with the prosp'rous to stay, 

He constant remains, 

And love still retains, 
More closely adhering as these haste away. 

How swift speed the hours like arrows that glide, 
While many the cherished who fall by our side ; 

Yet One may be seen 

With visage serene, 
A lightship that floats 'mid the stormiest tide. 



Miscellaneous. 171 

When evening draws on, and Nature seeks rest, 
He sends forth his angels whom none can molest ; 

Such sentry disarms 

All foes or alarms, 
If Faith make its pillow a Saviour's breast. 

And when at the last this earth we shall leave, 
And bidding farewell, loved and loving must grieve, 

The soul he uplifts, 

And shows us 'bright rifts 
In clouds against heaven our doubts interweave. 



THE DREADED ISLAND. 

AS toward yon distant isle the helmsmen steer, 
ii In every bosom is awakened fear ; 
Forbidding rocks arise 
To anxious eyes ; 
And shoals — like treacherous foes, 
Concealed by noiseless billows, none would think 
were near — lie hid. 
If harmlessly the wave repose, 
Or fatally the tempest sweep 
And lash to fury far and wide 

The wayward and remorseless deep — 
The lurid lightning danger writes upon the tide, 
Where fathoms down doth many a bark 
Lie desolate, and none can know 
Where absent loved ones sleep. 



172 Miscellaneous. 

When night spreads shadows dark 
Soon furled is every sail, 

While hearts more timorous grow, 
An unknown fate bewail. 



Upon this island food is placed, 
That when, perchance, is lost some hapless ship 

The saved may live till, fear effaced, 
By timely aid they may resume their trip, 

And reach some safer shore, 

Where terrors they have felt may ne'er afTrighten more. 

'Mid fairest seeming, fatal isles doth life disclose, 
Our trend is toward them like the needle to the pole. 
Unrippling silent waves that glow 
Allay suspicion and the thought of dole. 
Succeedeth rashness, when the helm of wisdom ceases 
to control — 
Unquestioning do mortals steer to where the subtle evils lie, 
Though many wrecks to make them pause may they descry, 
And tales of navigators thwarted bid them fly. 

Still safety may they find who on these rocks are cast, 
They yet may live, albeit destruction seem to bind the 
victim fast. 

A God is there, 
As everywhere, 
And when they strive, 
He keeps alive. 



Miscellaneous. 173 

An antidote removes the bane ; 

A lifted prayer, and man is safe again. 
He rescues, who a Peter kept from watery grave, 
And taught his timid follower to tread the stormy 
wave. 



REVERIES ON VIRGINIA BEACH. 

I WANDER o'er Virginia Beach, 
Whose length is more than eye can reach, 
Where laboring footsteps patience teach. 
I watch the ocean's changeful hue, 
Its tints of brown and green and blue, 
While moving sails oft meet the view. 

I see a wreck upon the sand, 
Her hull yet sound, proportions grand, 
Though rudely hurled by Neptune's hand. 
How sad to think of, outward bound, 
Some promised dreamland never found — 
Of beauteous forms by seaweed wound ! 

Again, I see a broken net, 
Like shattered wishes never met, 
Though gleesome woven seines were set. 
On pebbles smooth or glistening shell 
My wandering glance doth often dwell; 
They seem of greetings kind to tell. 



1 74 Miscella?ieous. 

I see a white bird cast ashore : 
Its shattered wing is stained with gore; 
It ne'er can skim the ether more. 
So whiter seems a life when flown, 
And Envy leaves its prey alone : 
By crimson stain 't is purer known. 

No more the sportive naiads lave ; 
The power of God is in yon wave — 
'T is he alone the soul can save. 
The noblest thought, in noblest speech, 
Hath not such gift the heart to teach 
As voices from Virginia Beach. 



THE FLOWERS IN BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN. 

DURING A CONVENTION OF THE G. A. R. 

O BOSTON, city of the past and of the living present, 
With fancies decked in hues as rich as those of 
golden pheasant, 
Whose transcendentalism, like thy streets, seems very mazy, 
Or like the fogs upon near coasts — conspicuously hazy. 

Of all the sights to waken thought amid thy many glories, 
Thy monuments and statues, linked with patriotic stories, 
Naught captivates and charms us more than flowers fair 

adorning 
Thy Public Garden, radiant with freshness of the morning. 



Miscella?ieous. 175 

The tuberose and the hyacinth and pink delight the senses, 
Where Nature, trained by human skill, her fragrance rare 

dispenses. 
Each army corps its badge may claim, the hand of taste 

displaying j 
Deserting its allotted sphere, we find no leaflet straying. 

Like regiments in phalanx close, appropriate their draping, 
'T would seem some orderly with care attended to their 

shaping. 
A tear arises in his eye, who fought to save the nation, 
When these sweet emblems bid him pause amid his 

recreation. 

Instructors that dispel from life the shades which often 

lower, 
Upon this day of import deep thus teach by thine own 

power: 
Our country in her proud advance, her splendor and her 

sinning, 
Needs hearts as true and hands as brave as those at her 

beginning. 



Grand Army Day, Aug. 12, 1890. 



176 Miscellaneous. 



A DOG'S DEATH. 

ONE morning a dog, with his fate not content, 
Disgusted with three yea'rs of life, 
To where rushed the train at a rail-crossing went, 
Determined to end fortune's strife. 

Unconscious of fear, on the iron he lay, 

Though danger was at its full height, 
With scarcely a moment the past to survey, 

His limbs and his sorrows took flight. 

Soon after his master perceived the remains 

Of Fido, to household endeared, 
Which, having entombed with solicitous pains, 

A monument worthy he reared. 

Alas, like a dog's is the lot of our race, 

The world whipping much at its will ; 
And if, like the dog, no design could we trace, 

The suicide's grave more would fill. 

In buffetings wisdom sees purposes high, 

The sweet fruits of patience in view ; 
'Neath blows, while the foolish then curse God and die, 

Their lives will the thoughtful renew. 



Miscellaneous, 177 



THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

FATHER, thou who art in heaven, 
Hallowed be thy name, 
May thy kingdom's peaceful leaven 

War disarmed proclaim ; 
May thy will, which man resisting, 

From himself ne'er won, 
Through the earth be still persisting 

As on high 't is done. 
Thou, who countless souls art feeding, 

Give us daily bread ; 
Let each one who food is needing 

Share thy bounty spread. 
Wrong forgive by us committed 

In thy holy sight, 
As thy servants have remitted 

Trespass 'gainst their right. 
'Mid temptation lead us never, 

Evil's work undo, 
For thy kingdom standeth ever, 

Power, glory, too. Amen. 

RAIN. 

DROP, drop, rain, rain, 
A priceless boon thou art ; 
A greeting sends the arid plain, 
The shallow brook, the mart. 



78 Miscellaneous. 

Attending breezes cool the brow, 
The blinding dust allayed — 

Thy crystal purity on bough 
And mead and tender blade. 



A gift I have, a favorite plant 
Which by yon lattice springs ; 

Its faded beauties seem to pant, 
To droop like wearied wings. 

O prithee, rain, my spirit cheer, 

And ere too late revive 
Its growth, and bring the giver near 

To bid affection thrive. 

How rhythmic at the midnight hour 

Thy pattering on the roof, 
While slumber owns thy soothing power, 

To druggist's art reproof! 

To every mortal thou art kind — 

The just and unjust too; 
For mercy we can never bind, 

Whatever ill we do. 

Impatience oft would drive thee hence, 

Provided long thy stay ; 
Reflection yields, regardful whence 

The bread consumed each day. 



Miscellaneous. 179 

In season due thy moistened tread 

Along the town or wood ; 
The harvest ripe, the harvest dead, 

Thy path bestrewn with good. 

As they who weep return with sheaves 

Of joyousness again, 
O tearful sky, thy blessings leave 

To hinder Famine's pain. 

Our prayers be like ascending mist 
That calls down fruitful showers ; 

May Grace their fervency assist, 
And change life's dearth to flowers. 



MY CANARY. 

TWAS given to me 
By one o'er the sea, — 
So precious, though wee, — 

My Canary ! 
O'erlooked from his size — 
Yet, blinking his eyes, 
He seemed very wise — 

My Canary ! 

And this pretty thing 
With bright yellow wing 
Most sweetly would sing — 

My Canary! 



180 Miscellaneous, 

Ah, sad was the night! 
A mouse with a bite 
Removed my delight — 

My Canary! 

I saw him ere dead : 

He chirruped, raised his head, 

And then his life fled — 

My Canary! 

Lone days will prolong 
That last note of song, 
That eve's cruel wrong — 

My Canary ! 



TO A FRIEND AFTER A LONG ABSENCE, 

I SAW thee not as in the youthful past 
With maiden beauty of unwonted kind, — 
Such charms could not forever last, 
Since years roll on and leave their marks behind. 
I saw thee when the brown to white had turned, 
And traces of life's discipline were shown — 
When, though the altar flame of love still burned, 
Yet by affection more subdued 't was known. 
Still beauty rested on thy brow serene, 
As sunlight peering through a softening cloud, 
Suggestive more than when in girlhood seen, 
Like music faintly heard — not near and loud. 



Miscellaneous. 1 8 1 

Dear friends of youth, how magical their power ! 
They waken visions which can never die : 
We do not view them as a transient flower, 
But like the leaves which in some volume lie. 
May time add blessings to thy wedded store, 
Their sources deepening in a love-lit home, 
Till thou in peace shalt reach the open door 
Where undimmed friendship crowns the life to come ! 



THE HORSE. 

LITHE doth he bound, 
Spurning the ground; 
Graceful each curve 
Quivering with nerve : 
A creature of beauty from fetlock to mane, 
The full-blooded steed as he courses the plain. 

Taskmasters ply 

Burdens that try 

Patience and brawn, 

Plodding from dawn : 
Of all useful creatures he serves man the best, 
Most worthily claiming his food and his rest. 

Proud but yet meek, 

Love does he seek ; 

Scarcely when heard, 

Swayed by a word : 
His head tossed with anger, impetuous, wild — 
Caressed, he will stoop to the hand of a child. 



182 Miscella?ieous. 

Intellect's light 
Smiles through brute night; 
Fineness of tact 
Lurks in an act : 
" He smelleth the battle afar off," and breathes 
A craving for laurels that victory wreathes. 

Praise of the horse 

Ages endorse, 

Beauteous with might, 

Gentle and bright : 
Bucephalus high amid chargers in fame 
A prestige hath given an undying name. 



THE ENGLISHMAN AND THE SCOT. 

AN Englishman on Scotia's soil, 

l\. Where Nature's barrenness defies mere toil, 

Surprised, was at a loss to trace 

By what devices she maintained her race. 

While musing o'er a sterile heath, 

With frowning skies above and rocks beneath, 

A native did he thus address : 
" With special favor Heaven seems to bless 

You Northmen, save in choice of food. 

Pray tell me how you live ? " In jesting mood 

He asked ; then waited for reply. 
" On oatmeal," said the Scot, " do we rely." 



Miscellaneous. ig^ 

At this response the Southron smiled. 

Grown portly with rich fare, he deemed it wild. 
" On oatmeal we our horses feed," 

He said, while roast-beef visions moved his greed. 

The Scot rejoined, in tone of glee : 
" What horses do you raise ! — what men do we ! " 



TO A DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIAN ON HIS 
SEVENTY-SECOND BIRTHDAY. 

BUT few are the sheaves which the life reaper brings 
When the chances to glean are departing, 
Compared with those promised when Hope spread 
her wings 
'Mid illusions of youth at the starting. 

Not thus 't is with thee in thy ripeness of years 
Long renowned in the province of healing ; 

The good thou hast done in Time's record appears, 
Ample measure its pages revealing. 

The poor with the rich whom thy art has made glad 
Now the tokens of love are presenting : 

They trust that thy smile and thy skill to the sad 
Yet may bless, pain's intrusion preventing. 



1 84 Miscellaneous. 

This tribute accept of a friend's deep regard 
Thou hast cheered amid sickness and sorrow; 

God grant thee above an eternal reward, 
And below, oft a happy to-morrow. 



DOES THE POET LIVE? 

A CRITIC mourns the Muse as dead and buried — 
That this prosaic age, engrossed in traffic, 
Has quenched the flame that burned so bright on Scio - 
Rekindled and more lambent yet on Avon : 
Apollo's lyre is dumb before the harshness 
Of car and steamer whistle, loom and shuttle. 
He says, "Though rhymers may abound — not poets," — 
Inferior as the second-temple offerings, 
Which seem like flowers scattered on a highway 
Downtrodden and unworthy to be gathered, — 
That bards who wake the strain sublime have vanished,— 
That 'mid the Babylon of grasping commerce, 
Held captive by its chain, their harps are idle. 

Plain common sense repels the imputation; 

It finds the Muse prolific now as ever ; 

A higher standard are its numbers reaching — 

That greater lights are dimmed by many great ones, 

While few competing better chance gave genius. 

Does music longer flourish, or does painting ? 
Let crowds decide who press to hear a Patti, 



Miscellaneous. 185 

And wealth that on a Meissonier was lavished — 

For art is single though its kin are many. 

As soon may droop forever rose or lily, 

Their bloom and fragrance fail to please the senses ; 

Niagara as soon may roar unheeded, 

His mountains cease to stir the pride of Switzer ; 

As soon the stars may fail to make us wonder, 

Or night gloom, coming fancies weird to conjure ; 

As soon may Cupid break his bow and slumber, 

May smiles and tears no longer cheer or sadden, 

As ever Poetry forget her mission, 

Nor longer lift from troubled hearts their burden. 



THE OCTOGENARIAN'S LAMENT. 

WHEN I am gone who will care? 
My loss the world will soon repair. 
Perchance my dog will whine and look more sad - 

I 'm sure my absence will not drive him mad; 
The cat when on my lounge may purr the more, 
Less oft awhile my bird his strains may pour; 
But onward will the car of time proceed 

As though the world did not my presence need. 

Beside these pets some may care : 
The one for whom I cleared the air 

From scandal's pestilence of envy born 
Where reputation was of honor shorn; 



1 86 Miscellaneous. 

The poor I 've helped, and those whom I 've consoled 
When 'mid a heart-felt grief but few condoled; 

And they may mourn who, blind to every fault, 
The humblest virtue that I have exalt. 

When I am gone some will care — 

It may be but the instance rare 
Of those whose love is more than in the name, 

Who when I greet them ever are the same, 
Unlike the changelings of the hour that smile 

Yet frown as quick when interest's voice beguile : 
Such ties will cheer the gloom the grave must bring 

Like nightingales that make the darkness ring. 



LET DOWN THE BARS. 

LET down the bars — for twilight's fleeting hour 
Is deepening shadows in the somber vale ; 
The robin in the copse has ceased his singing ; 
The owl will soon go forth and nightingale. 

Let down the bars — the golden-rod and cowslip, 
The buttercup, the clover, and the fern 

Must quick retire from flaunting day's exposure 
To sip the cooling dews at eve's return. 

Let down the bars — the maid in restless humor 
With foaming white the empty pail would fill ; 

All clean the pans within the dairy glistening; 
The churn, tho' ready for its work, is still. 



Miscellaneous. 187 

Let down the bars — the cattle sauntering homeward, 
But faintly will their tinkling bells be heard ; 

Beneath its wing the sheltering night enfolding 
Repose will give to man and beast and bird. 

Let down the bars, we say, 'mid earthly pastures, 
When sighing for the herbage ever green, 

Whene'er for " waters still " the soul is panting — - 
The living waters of the land unseen. 



"THE FAR-AWAY LOOK." 

WHY, maiden, that mysterious look so rapt and far 
away, 
As though intent on distant scenes that hold thee by 
their sway ? 
Why deaf to duty's noble call, which needs thy every care, 
While gazing on the listless cloud or on the empty air ? 

Is meditation lured to one with thoughts akin to thine, 

To whom affection firmly clings, as to the oak the vine ? 
Art thou absorbed in him who seems like hilltop o'er the 
vale, 
Or sparkling ore that miners, with an untold pleasure, 
hail ? 

Does poet-flame illume within and send its beam afar, 
Thine eye bewildered shining like some lone and errant 
star? 



1 88 . Miscellaneous. 

Enravished by Apollo's lyre, that charms Parnassus' height, 
Doth soar on wings of fame to perch where genius aims 
its flight ? 

Art weaving hopes like frost-work, or like shadows on the 
wall, 
With youth-inspired vision that forebodings ne'er appal ? 
Does life suggest a fairy-land, remote from fear or pain, 
The bright side of its pattern seen, obscured its rough 
and plain ? 

Has sorrow dashed the promise that shed calmness on thy 
brow, 
The burden of to-morrow or the falsehood of a vow ? 
Dost ponder o'er the gloom which oft surmounts the 
gladdest day, 
And hence the strange mysterious look — that look so 
far away ? 

Perhaps the soul immortal, which adds beauty to thine eye, 
Would from its earthly prison-house some Ararat 
descry — 
Would lend its fair possessor the true rest for hopes and 
dreams, 
Where every picture Faith unfolds is lovelier than it 
seems. 



Miscellaneous, 1 89 



THE WACCAMAW. 



MY heart returns to long ago, 
Recalls a river's gentle flow, 
That oft-reflected pleasure's glow : 
This river loved, I daily saw 
And floated o'er — the Waccamaw. 



Where skyward points the Southern pine, 
With other tides its waves combine 
As souls congenial oft entwine : 
They tell of love's mysterious law, 
These streamlets with the Waccamaw. 

Upon its margin roses grew, 
Like those Cashmere unfolds to view 
As smiling 'mid the morning dew : 
Their crimson leaves with scarce a flaw 
Were fragrant near the Waccamaw. 

The old plantation cheers the past, 
Whose memories will time outlast. 
How deep the shadows change has cast ! 
The blackbirds' group, the crows' harsh caw 
Bewail those gone from Waccamaw. 

O dreamland South, too short thy stay, 
Now yielding to a coming day; 



90 Miscella?ieous. 

The mart disputes the poet's lay — 
But should the Muses all withdraw, 
My song will live for Waccamaw. 



A TRUST. 

EACH trust by God was given, 
Howe'er by man it came ; 
'T was sealed at first in heaven, 
And bears Jehovah's name. 

Inwoven with the matter 
Where human faith abounds, 

Beyond earth's din and clatter 
The sacred charge resounds. 

'T were better our own treasure 
Should suffer by neglect, 

Than, through deceitful measure, 
We forfeit self-respect. 

With pledges oft men trifle, 
Their sacred honor sell, 

The claims of others stifle 
Through some deluding spell. 

When falsely undertaken, 

The duty of a trust 
A Nemesis will waken, 

To lay our schemes in dust. 



Miscellaneous. 1 9 : 



IN MEMORY OF PHILLIPS BROOKS, 

LATE BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



I 



N stature a King Saul, 
A David in devotion, 
An honor to his country, he has rounded life's brief day. 
With zeal that fired Paul, 
With loving John's emotion, 
His sudden loss the thoughtless rouse by God's mysterious 
way. 

His noble form declared 

A noble soul's expansion ; 
The Christ within superior rose to either creed or race. 

Affection wide he shared, 

From cot to lordly mansion — 
The old and young responsive to the sunshine of his face. 

A Christian from the heart, 

Devoid of ostentation, 
In word and deed he pointed to the one atoning plan. 

His gifts he deemed no part 

Of gold or priestly station — 
The man sought not the miter, but the miter sought the man. 



192 Miscellaneous. 

A more than bishop died, 

'T is not a name has left us ; 
But one who preached the value of a conscience and a mind. 

Upon progression's tide 

Moved he who has bereft us — 
Such heroes, spurning narrowness, but seldom do we find. 

Great Shepherd, God of light, 

Destruction's power averting, 
Uproot the plant of selfishness, that bane of church and state. 

A lordship keep in sight, 

Which, Heaven's cause asserting, 
Will sound a note 'mid sin's vast wild of true prophetic 
weight. 

UNCROWNED KINGS. 

NOT kingly always he who wears the crown, — 
For sceptered craft and impotence insult the state 
And foster hate, 
While strength of loyalty is broken down. 

Before his office self is falsely placed. 

His own is first considered — not the people's need; 

His wicked greed 
Appropriates — all righteous claims effaced. 

Of kings not crowned the world may sometimes boast, 
Who are but subjects, though possessed of regal power. 

They nobly tower, 
The choice of Heaven, o'er th' inferior host. 



Miscellaneous. 1 9 3 

These peerless ones in humblest life abound, 
Dynamical within the limit of their sphere, 

By worth they rear 
Authority in despots never found. 

They counterpoise the tyrant on his throne 
By overcoming influence of honest deeds ; 

They plant the seeds 
Of some wild vengeance — to themselves unknown. 

The upright statesman is an uncrowned king, 
Or he who genius barters not for interest's sake, 

Who will not break 
His pledge to this high gift, whate'er it bring. 

And monarch such remains to duty true 

When sneer or curse awaits the outcome of his will, 

When threats to kill 
With terror haunt the path he dares pursue. 

The best of crowns rewards the beacon soul 

Which makes the wealth that earth bestows a bauble seem. 

Its mystic gleam 
Is where the "King of Kings" bears chief contrcl. 



THE SOUL OF LOVE. 

ADORNED with beauty's choicest grace, 
±\. A flower at morning tide, 
The future told upon her face 
She soon would be a bride. 



1 94 Miscellaneous. 

But, mingled with her budding life, 
That made it seem more fair, 
You felt a mystic presence rife — 
The soul of love was there. 

The waves of time had swept along, 

Meridian glory fled, 

The matin bird had sung her song, 

The youthful prime was dead. 

Like autumn in its sober vest, 

Her looks still debonaire, 

The mind, of lasting charms in quest, 

The soul of love found there. 

'T is evening, and the taper low, — 

Companions gone before, — 

Long vanished beauty's fitful glow, 

She nears the final shore. 

Now few and faint the traces cling 

Of bloom that years outwear : 

Yet — bright as in her time-worn ring 

The gem — love's soul is there. 



THE STORM SPIRIT. 



w 



7EIRD spirit of the storm, 
Unpitying dost thou go ; 



The proudest and the humblest form 
By thee alike brought low. 



Miscellaneous. 195 

A panic wide is spread 

Where calmness reigned before; 
Thy path of ruin and the dead 

Appals the sea and shore. 

Thou addest gloom to night, 

Thy frowning hides the sun ; 
Retiring shrinks the timid light, 

The herds before thee run. 

But why o'erwhelmed with fear 

Beneath thy darkling sway, 
When hues divine will soon appear 

And drive the gloom away ? 



MOONLIGHT AT RIDGEFIELD. 

THIS night is like a dream to cheer our 
troubled vale ; 
Poetic, fresh, above the gross, the stale ; 
A picture by the hand Divine, 
A benison for hearts that pine. 

The vagrant clouds are floating on mid air ; 
They sail athwart the dome serene and fair,- 
Arresting surfeit of the eye 
Enravished by the moonlit sky. 



g 6 Miscellaneous. 

Thus wandering clouds impend where fortune's gifts 

abound, 
That tracing Omnipresence man be found, 
That through the shadow we may prize 
What surfeit fails to realize. 

How lovely yonder silvery orb, the darkened green, 
The softened outline and the lakelet sheen ! 
How sweet the odor of the flower 
On zephyr wing from lover's bower! 

Alone, fair queen, thou rulest o'er enchanted earth, 

Like one to whom an age gives birth ; 

Beneath thy radiance nature smiles, 

Each charm enriched with borrowed wiles. 

O hallowed eve so pensive and by angels blest, 
Awakening drowsy fancy from her rest — 
To fadeless beauties thou dost move, 
In words unuttered, fraught with love! 



CONJUGALITY, 

ALONE I am not if it be 
l\ That thou art 'neath the roof where I may sit ; 
Thy form I may not see, 

Nor hear thy voice of music and of wit : 
Yet not alone am I 
Should others be not nigh. 



Miscellaneous. 197 

And e'en when many mingle here, 

While echoing halls are filled with merry sounds 
That fain the hour would cheer — 

Of thee bereft, a sadness deep abounds, 
And mocks each friendly wile 
That would from self beguile. 

Or should the angels take thee hence 

And mar the joyousness that fills my soul, 

In prayer, when most intense, 

A nearness felt would every thought control, 

More living than the giddy throng 

With flattery, jest, and song. 

A COMRADE. 

WELCOME, friend of bygone years, 
With joy unfeigned I greet thee ; 
Life's early garlands dost thou bring, 
Whene'er I chance to meet thee. 

Imaged by thy sparkling eye, 

The brooklet dances brightly, 
Upon whose margin oft we played 

When shadowing care touched lightly. 

Beaming in thy cheerful smile, 

I see the happy faces 
Of loved companions passed away, 

With none to fill their places. 



Miscellaneous. 

Pressing with a cordial grasp 

The hand I freely offer, 
I know that one, well tried and true, 

His hand in turn doth proffer. 

Time may set its well-known seal, 
Its shears youth fancies sever — 

But verdure of thy guileless heart 
Will spring as fresh as ever. 



MODERATE AIMS. 

UNDULY ask I not 
For this short life ; 
My dwelling be some favored spot 

With hallowed pleasures rife, 
With friendship near, by enmity forgot. 

I know that happiness 

From modest springs 
O'erflows, while riches fail to bless, 

Except upon the wings 
Of charity, alive to all distress. 

It is not wealth I crave, 

Where envy stands, 
A hideous specter from the grave 

Of peace, with outstretched hands 
To ruin by some plot whence naught can save* 



Miscellaneous. 199 

Averse to all extremes, 

I find true joy : 
It comes not in the wildering dreams 

Of luxuries that health destroy ; 
Nor poverty nor riches draw its beams. 

I know 't is on the tide 

Of calm content, 
Where passion's stormy winds subside 

And reason is not rent 
By hapless ventures which the fact outride. 

Beyond enough for me 

May some one share — 
A toiler brave, from envy free, 

With thankful heart for rudest fare, 
Whose plaintless want but One alone can see. 



"THOSE WE REMEMBER." 

ADORNING life's pathway, with pleasure we meet 
l\ Companions who ennui dispel : 

The charm of their presence delighted we greet 

Reluctantly bid them farewell. 

But 't is not the contact of hand grasping hand 

Approval of mind has been reached ; , 

Where friendship is hallowed in mem'ry's choice band, 
Her steadfastness never impeached. 



2 o o Miscellaneous. 

The heart is a witness beyond all appeal 
Of forms time will never efface — 

'T is this — only this, can enduringly seal 
The loved in the past that we trace. 

Hence small is the number, unbroken by years, 

We prize as when earliest seen — 
To whom fond recurrence a monument rears, 

Their sod by affection kept green. 

They may not be beautiful, valiant, or gay — 

Have little the worldly admire ; 
Like flowers that hide from the glare of the day, 

May know not ambition's desire. 

Remembered they are for the blessings they shed, 
O'ermastering despair through their wiles — 

That, ruling the spirit — all selfishness dead, 
An Eden have planted with smiles. 



DIES IR/E. 

DAY of anger, noted day, 
Earth in ashes melts away, 
David and the Sibyl say. 

Ah, what trembling will there be 
When with searching scrutiny 
Every act our Judge will see ! 



Miscellaneous, 201 

At the trumpet's startling tone — ■ 
Which sepulchral gloom shall own — 
All must come before* the throne. 

Death astounded, Nature, too, 
Shall be found, as rise to view 
Buried forms the Judge to sue. 

Hidden things will be revealed 
In the record long concealed 
When the verdict he will yield. 

Dreadful in his lofty seat, 
Crime must leave its vain retreat 
Righteous punishment to meet. 

Wretched me, what shall I say, 
To what intercessor pray, 
When the just see not their way ? 

King of awful majesty, 

Saving man when true to thee, — 

Mercy's font, deliver me! 

Jesus, pitiful, recall 

How I brought thee through the fall, 

Do not let this hour appal. 

Weary waiting, sought thou me, 
Interceding on the tree, — 
Not in vain thine effort be. 



Miscellaneous. 

Righteous Judge retributive, 
Pardoning grace thy servant give, 
Till the reck'ning let me live. 

Deeply I a culprit groan, 

Face suffused with guilt I moan, — 

Send forgiveness from thy throne. 

Thou who canceled Mary's sin, 
Thou whose ear a thief could win, 
Grant me also peace within. 

Merit seasons not my prayer, 
Yet, good Lord, in mercy spare, 
Lest eternal fire I share. 

From the goats thy servant keep ; 
Let me mingle with the sheep, 
At thy right their fruits to reap. 

When the lost their sins confound, 
And the scorching flames surround, 
May " well done " to me resound. 

Humble, prostrate, I implore — 
Contrite in the dust, heart-sore, 
Guard me when death hovers o'er. 

In that mournful day's surprise, 
When, O Judge, from ashes rise 
Guilty mortals — hear their cries. 



Miscellaneous, 203 

In the mansions of the blest, 

Where no storms can reach the breast, 

Jesu, grant to all thy rest ! 



'DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY." 

SLOW beats the pulse in yonder wasted form; 
It soon must yield as sweeps the final storm; 
No power can save 
But His who gave, 
While sluggish drags the crimson current warm. 

The eager eyes of fond ones look through mist ; 
Their ears attent for faintest word still list : 

But in that room, 

Oppressed with gloom, 
All signs to cheer the darkness love resist. 

An earnest watcher murmurs, " Death is near," 
As faith despondent yields itself to fear ; 
When lo ! a strain 
Makes weeping vain — 
"Ah, no; not death, but life," with joy they hear. 



204 Miscellaneous. 



PARTING HYMN 

GONE, the charm of school-day life, 
Gone, the early mental strife ; 
Visions fade from fancy's prime, 
Fact must rule in coming time. 
Bravely let us seek the right, 
Hopeful scale the rugged height, 

Where, upon her chosen throne, 
Honor waits to claim her own. 

Chorus. 
Bravely let us seek the right, 
Hopeful scale the rugged height, 
Where, upon her chosen throne, 
Honor waits to claim her own. 

Promise cheers the toilsome way; 

Born of learning's favored day, 

Clear-eyed Science quick unfolds 
Depths no dreamy age beholds. 

Woman's work, so w r ell begun, 

Wide and wisely should be done ; 

She may occupy each sphere 
Where her noblest powers appear. 

Chorus. 



Miscellaneous. 2 o ; 

Principal and teachers true, 

School-mates all, adieu, adieu ! 

Blessed fruits of Jesus' love 
Be your guerdon from above. 

Let us trust, when outward bound, 

Crystallized within, be found 

Line and precept fitly given, 
Glowing with the light of heaven. 

Chorus. 



HAIL WE ALL THE GLADSOME HOUR. 

CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

WHY are church-bells gaily sounding ? 
Why each pulse with rapture bounding ? 
Gleams of Christmas shine afar, 
Brighter than its Eastern Star. 

Chorus. 
Hail we all the gladsome hour! 
God and angels seal its power. 
Vanquished doubt before it flies — 
Heaven's message fills the skies. 

Why are children sweetly singing, 
Toward the throne their voices ringing ? 
Gently folded to his breast, 
Children are by Jesus blest. 

Chorus. 



206 Miscellaneous. 

Why are strains from humblest dwelling 
In the choral outburst swelling ? 
Of his treasure all partake, 
Who was poor for our sake. 

Chorus. 

Why rejoice the broken-hearted, 
Life a blank — its hopes departed ? 
Christ secured for their relief 
Balm to soften every grief. 

Chorus. 

ON THE DEATH OF A TRUE MAN. 

A LIGHT went out 
±\. A beauteous light. 
No sun was ever 

Half so bright, 
When measured by 

An inner sight. 
It helped the soul 

To reach its goal, 
When sin would stay 

The upward way; 
'T was ne'er inurned 

But open burned, 
Could e'en illume 

A dungeon gloom. 
When truly felt 

The heart would melt 



Miscellaneous. 207 

Though callous grown, 

Through friendship flown, 
And guilt long sown. 

While fortune gleams, 

Then mocking seems, 
We try in vain, 

Our vision strain 
To find the cause 

Of want and pain. 

The light went out 

Within this sphere, 
But ah, it cannot disappear. 

'T was but a star of yesternight, 
To shine again — but far more bright. 

REASON AND REVELATION. 

I KISSED the rod, for Reason said 't were well; 
That murmuring would bring no better fate 
Than that evoked by sorrow's present spell : 

The rather I might feel more poignant weight — 
The load of conjured grief, which, else unknown, 

Could add no furrow to my saddened brow, — 
Which harmless, in the bud and not full blown, 

Would ne'er coerce me from submission's vow. 
I kissed the rod, and did not seek to fly : 

For Reason pointed to the Stoic's plan 



208 • Miscellaneous. 

As best befitting lineage so high 

As that accorded to the humblest man. 
I bowed because she coldly said a power 

That placed me on this sphere, by changeless rule, 
Would scatter in due season clouds that lower, 
While calling him who questioned her a fool. 
But such dissuasion left me in the dark, 
While tossed amid the storms of doubt, life's bark. 
I could not trace the wildering, distant shore, 
Where wearied hope might dwell forever more. 
Then as the voyager, spent by long delay, 
San Salvador perceived 'mid faith's decay, 
From dark forebodings I at last awoke, 
When truth upon my longing vision broke : 
For Revelation did more clear expound 
And cause from dim surmise the heart to bound; 
A new compliance set at rest all fear, 
And love eternal stayed the rising tear. 



OMNIPRESENCE. 

HE sees, and only He, 
The secret of life's mystery, — 
Its deep unwritten history, — 
Each thought the lips refuse to speak, 
The purpose strong, with action weak, 
The vengefulness, with bearing meek. 



Miscellaneous. 209 

He hears, and only He, 
The prayer that comes 'mid falling tears, 
Corroding needs, appalling fears, — 
Where music's soul has long been dulled, 
The garden's sweetest flower culled, 
The wave of proud ambition lulled. 



He knows, and only He, 
When time seems flitting cheerily, 
How drag its wheels but wearily. 
He knows the spirit's strife with sin, 
While censure with confusing din 
Arises from the world's chagrin. 



He guards, and only He, 
When storms assert their maddening sway, 
As safe as 'mid the gladdening day. 
His watch is in the darkest night 
The soul can know, — amid its flight, 
Till reaching final depth or height. 



He loves, and only He, — 
The Parent true, — unceasingly, 
Like flowing tide increasingly ; 
By non-requital never turned, — 
Repentance smoldering, embers burned, — 
His love inborn and never learned. 



2 1 o Miscella?ieous. 

He saves, and only He, — 
Attempt of man erasing not 
That subtle and defacing spot. 
While traveling the celestial road, 
His Son alone removes the load 
That keeps us from the pure abode. 



I LOVE MY CHURCH. 

1LOVE my Church, and not because it is a Church, 
But something better than a Church is there. 
'T is not the ceremony grand and beautiful 
That wins me, but its Lord found everywhere. 

I love each Church wherein redemption's plan is told, 
The name be what it may, the worship, too. 

That Church I know not where concealed the Truth, the 
Life, 
Nor those its members called who evil won. 

Authority is little to a soul athirst; 

No broken cisterns can the want supply. 
I love my Church because it comforts while I live, 

But most because it comforts when I die. 



Miscellaneous. 211 



THE BETTER SIDE. 

ABETTER side has every man, 
And, seeking, we may find it ; 
Though dross appear when first we scan, 
Faith looks for gold behind it. 

Companion of the unclean bird, 
The dove will lose its whiteness, 

And vice when often seen and heard 
Will sully virtue's brightness. 

A common soul, howe'er defiled, 
Illumines, — God creating, — 

And sympathy intense and mild 
Can lift to heaven by waiting. 

Then let us, from the depths of sin 

The germ divine unfolding, 
With prayer the erring strive to win, 

Enraptured Love beholding. 



CHILDREN AND THE CHURCH. 

MOST tenderly enjoined upon the Church is childhood: 
The little ones within Christ's arms 
Were shielded from all power that harms, 

As safe as birdlings of the wild wood 
When mother wings repel alarms. 



212 Miscellaneous. 

A voice is heard resounding from a lonely manger 

In baby tones and yet divine : 
It charges that the Bride entwine 

Her sympathy to ward from danger 
The buds upon the mystic vine. 

Hence infants to the sacramental threshold taken, — 

Protected by the spotless Dove, — 
To God are sealed through rite of love; 

Kind offices in time awaken 
A trustfulness that looks above. 

When years have sped in which the " line and precept " 
falling 

As daily falls the nursing dew, — 
When Duty, Reason brings to view, — 

They openly assume their calling, 
And solemnly their vows renew. 

The " olive plants " are not our own, but they were loaned us 

To do God's will upon his sphere — 
To serve him from the earliest year; 

Such tendrils for our care were sent us : 
Then let his Church the children rear. 



Miscellaneous. 213 



-HOPE MAKETH NOT ASHAMED." 

THE Christian's hope is on the Rock of Ages founded, 
It maketh not ashamed ; 
Its choice fruition ne'er by matter frail is bounded, 
For life beyond 't was framed. 

It strives to reach a heavenly habitation 

'Mid endless streams of love; 
Its safeguards grovel not 'mid limits of probation 

Which time and chance may move. 

It clothes with courage in the day of persecution, 

Made tortured Stephen calm, 
A Paul before Agrippa filled with resolution, 

To martyr's wound a balm. 

It cheers when e'en the dearest friend on earth has left us, 

An angel brightening death ; 
When misery of every idol hath bereft us, 

And naught remains but breath. 

O Father, in this fleeting world so drenched with sorrow, 

Where helpless mortals sigh, 
Where prospects brightest prove but futile on the morrow — 

May hope on thee rely. 



2i4 Misccllaneo us. 



TEACHERS OF IMMORTALITY. 

WHAT pleasant tokens teach 
Of immortality ! 
They dwell outside the commonplace ; 
They breathe in sighing winds, 
And chant in murmuring seas ; 
They haunt us in the moonlight, 
Revive in bird or tree ; 
Are found within the beautiful 
That smiles on nature's face, 
Inviting to be dutiful, 
To rise from sin's disgrace ; 
They come in hallowed dreams 
That lift from tedious fact, 
In forms that bless the past 
And in the present act ; 
They dwell in all the charms of earth, 
The remnants of an Eden left, 
And he who cannot trace their birth 
Of finest sense must be bereft. 



THE SILKWORM. 

THE silkworm spins around his form, 
And from his form the gold cocoon- 
To merchandise a valued boon — 
Still weaves he on in calm or storm. 



Miscellaneous. 

His being fades like day in night, 
But not for welfare of his own : 
It fades to deck the richest throne, 

Or beauty's charms in halls of light. 

He makes his shroud, his coffin makes 
In all this work for others done 
From early dawn to set of sun — 

His task completed, death o'ertakes. 

And as to silkworm, so to each 
A work is given for day by day ; 
Though, not like him, man oft may play, 

Yet all must spin some end to reach. 

And when we 've wound and wound about 
The thread that from our being springs, 
And man at last his offering brings, 

The doom-bell tolls, the lamp goes out. 

But as the cheerful butterfly 

The grub unsightly leaves behind, 
Man's clod the soul can never bind : 

It quits earth's toil and soars on high. 



2I 5 



2 1 6 Miscellaneous. 



AT A BANQUET OF THE SONS OF THE 
REVOLUTION, 

on Washington's birthday, 1895. 

TO-DAY we recall the American man, 
Of elements rarely combined, 
A statesman, a hero, one leading the van, 
A Christian in heart and in mind. 

Like Alfred he lives in a chronicle green, 

Like Winkelried, Vasa, or Tell ; 
A noble within as in dignified mien, — 

His name too a watchword, a spell. 

Old England her colonies favored with tea, 
The best that her market supplied, — 

With Gunpowder, Hyson, and also Bohea, 
Unloosing each tongue far and wide. 

But, laden with duties, our ancestors vowed 
China's cup they would nevermore taste : 

As Indians disguised to the wharves did they crowd, 
The harbor bestrewing with waste. 

O'erboiling with wrath, Britain's rulers received 

Report of the act that was done, — 
The motherland feeling intensely aggrieved 

At treatment so brusque from her son. 



Miscellaneous. 217 

At once she determined to flog the rude child, 

As little ones whipped the taxed top j 
But soon she discovered, by anger made wild, 

His perverseness the youth failed to drop. 

'T was the boy whipped the mother, and not she the boy, 

Rebelling at what he was taught ; 
Who managed at last e'en her rule to destroy, 

For one somewhat better — he thought. 

" Yankee Doodle " was all our militia required 

Their dander to rouse for a fight ; 
Nor tea nor yet whisky the patriot fired 

Trained red-coats to scatter in flight. 

With flint-lock and blunderbuss — ordnance low — 

Redoubt with its cannon they took ; 
Each man, like old Put., in the midst of the foe, 

A-soldiering on his own hook. 

Now choicest of Hyson the dainty may drink — 

The ballot's decision controls ; 
If impost drive on to a ruinous brink, 

Redress will drive back at the polls. 

We brethren in line of such patriot band 

Its purpose should strictly maintain j 
Encroachment of party or sect to withstand 

On principle's jealous domain ; 



2 1 8 Miscellaneous. 

Should carefully watch, lest the tyrant invade 
Those rights won by bullet and steel : 

Like shepherds their flocks, in repose of some glade, 
The wolf in sheep's garb to reveal. 

Our function it is that Bartholdi's grand tower, 

In view of the Battery Park, 
Shall shine like the sun, giving Liberty power, 

Where slavery thrives in the dark. 

'T is ours to cleanse if defilement o'erspread, 
Obscuring our 'scutcheon once fair; 

From sloth's mausoleum to waken the dead — 
When the ship of state leaks, to repair. 

With eyes always open 'mid every-day walk, 

And love for Columbia's soil, 
Our presence a terror, if Anarchy stalk, 

Its greed for destruction will foil. 

To those who from foreign shores kindly apply 

To relieve us of national sway, 
Enlightened self-government, let us reply, 

Is presumed the American way. 

Humanity's chain binds our States into one ; 

'T is brotherly love best we know. 
Verbum sat. Let the stream of prosperity run, 

Engulfing misrule in its flow. 



ATiscellaneous. 219 

Dishonored the man keeping honor from him 

Who noblest of governments gave — 
Who will not, to-day, pledge his fame to the brim, 

Or has not a wreath for his grave. 

And shame to the bigot with minimum soul 

Who sees but a fraction of earth ; 
Who welcomes not strangers, from pole unto pole, 

That rejoice in our Washington's birth. 

And One rules above who the truth will uphold, 

And His truth do we seek to defend; 
If allegiance to Him in our hearts we enfold, 

Our God will He prove to the end. 

ON THE DEATH OF LONGFELLOW. 

DEVOTED watchers of the sky 
Upon a starry night, 
Amid the orbs suspended high 

Exalt some favorite light, 
Which, far beyond its fellows seems, 
Like Kohinoor, with peerless gleams. 

But should they on some evening find 

That friend cannot be traced, — 
An unseen hand where once it shined, 

Its glories had erased, — 
No stellar beauty on its throne, 
Could ever for this loss atone. 



220 Miscellaneous. 

Amid the gifted few of song 
Whose treasures cheer our way, 

A bard whom we have cherished long, 
Has calmly passed away. 

No other genius owns his skill, 

To charm the fancy, mold the will. 



While wide the galaxy is fraught 
With those of radiant power, — 

Who in the firmament of thought 
Will far survive the hour, 

Amid the depth of present woe 

Their numbers seem in vain to flow. 



We mourn thee as the poet dear 
Who touched the simplest soul ; 

We mourn thee as one very near 
With purity thy goal. 

The music of the " Psalm of Life," 

Renews each laggard in the strife. 

Unnoticed Nature blooms beneath 

The magic of thy wand, 
The tree, the flower, the shrub, the leaf, 

More beauteous deck the land. 
Through thee, the very dullest sod 
Seems fashioned by the hand of God, 



Miscellaneous. 221 

The smith, the gleaner from the soil 

A common share may claim, 
In thee, since thou to sacred toil 

Dost give its place and name, 
Dost weave in verse a coronet 
Upon its honest brow to set. 



A field neglected thou hast tilled, 
And broadcast scattered grain ; 

We know from many a garner filled, 
Thou hast not sown in vain ; 

In distant countries fruits appear, 

From seed which thou hast planted here. 

At Pisa, in the spacious fane, 

The chord awaked below, 
Arising, sounds in softer strain, 

Till lost in echoes low ; — 
So thy sweet thoughts will mount from time, 
And mingle in the dome sublime. 

A man in will, in faith a child, 
The children loved thee well ; — 

Allured by tones and bearing mild, 
They sought thy gentle spell ; 

Their innocence thy goodness saw, 

By instinct's ne'er misleading law. 



Miscellaneous. 

The home of Washington was thine, 

Whose valor won our State ; 
The Muse and Liberty combine 

To stem tyrannic hate. 
A pilgrimage to such abode 
Is prompted by a double goad. 

His epic Homer gave to Greece, 

And Virgil sang for Rome, 
And Shakespeare's strain will never cease 

To live in time to come ; 
But Longfellow will always be 
The pride and glory of the free. 



RENEWAL OF WORK ON THE PEDESTAL. 



WHAT means yon stone ? 
'T is promise vain of sculpture not completed. 
Alas, how lone ! 
No workmen seen ; must Pride then be entreated ? 

ii 

'Tis well thus far; 
But wherefore, pray, the pile no more advances ? 

What fickle star 
To stupid sloth and base neglect entrances ? 



Miscella?ieous. 223 

in 

Hath fled the charm, 
In Freedom's name, whereon our Hope was founded 

To wrest this harm ? 
Historic wraiths see stalk abroad astounded ! 



Great Lafayette 
And Rochambeau — the brave De Grasse — 'mid others — 

In mute regret, 
Would fan the flame this cold indifference smothers. 



Alas ! how droops 
The eagle's wing, beyond his eyrie soaring ! 

What dying swoops ! — 
Niagara's flood, meanwhile, a protest roaring. 

VI 

Renew the task — 
A signal meet for every struggling nation — 

Nor let them ask 
If yet we bear to Freedom's cause relation. 

VII 

When faint the sense 
That limned the Stars and Stripes our flag enfolding, 

'T will glow intense — 
The gift of France, in beauteous grace beholding. 



224 Miscellaneous. 

VIII 

Those hither bound 
Will read a truth while here perchance they tarry ; 

When home is found, 
The noble truth to other lands they '11 carry. 

IX 

Let each in love 
Some tribute give, — a patriot's willing token, — 

Faint hearts to move, 
That far and wide the oppressor's chain be broken. 

A HYPERCRITICAL WORLD. 

PARAPHRASED FROM THE AFGHAN. 

STRIVE as you may to gain the good opinion 
Of man, so hard to please ; 
And soon you '11 find, from king to lowest minion, 

On trifles most will seize, 
By which to torture with malign inventions — 

To make your right seem wrong — 
When naught but e'en the very best intentions 
To every act belong. 

Let youth, within the snares of dissipation, 

Resolve the better way, 
Constrained will be pronounced its reformation, 

Postponed till latest day. 



Miscellaneous. 22s 

A purpose grave, a manly resolution, 

Says Rumor, shares no part, 
In what appears a moral revolution 

Affecting mind and heart. 

If thou wouldst silent sit instead of prating, 

Whatever be the cause ; 
Some reason false, ingenious slander stating, 

Vaunts zeal for social laws. 

The spirit of the coward is imputed, 

If thou dost weigh thy speech ; 
' 'T is plain," it says, " and ne'er can be refuted, 
The rogue would overreach." 

Or, if thou art inclined to conversation, 

Of sentiment or wit, 
Some self-styled critic of thy generation 

In judgment harsh will sit ; — 

Will say in undertone, with shrugs and winking, 
" No substance here is found, 
This fluent phrase contains but little thinking, 
'T is all unmeaning sound." 

If seclusion thou prefer, 

To the clamor and the stir, 
Of an uncongenial crowd, — 

Men will call thee cold and proud. 



226 Miscellaneous. 

If thou mingle with thy kind, 
To relieve of care the mind, 

Some will say, " Yon lazy lout 
Is a worthless gad-about." 

If a fortune one should gain, 
After years of toil and pain; 

And he spend it on himself, — 
Men will say, " The stingy elf." 

If one freely scatter gold, 
And his charities be told, 

'T will be said, while some applaud, 
" He secured his means by fraud." 

E'en the poor and honest man, 
Scorning every unfair plan, 

Will be sneered at as a fool, 
Who observes the golden rule. 

If one seem quite neat and nice, 
In the latest mode precise ; 
" A Miss Nancy," men will say, 

" Who in prinking spends the day." 

Or, if one be plain in dress, 
Not on fashion laying stress, 

A coarse sloven he'll be dubbed, 

And by snobs perchance be snubbed. 



Miscellaneous. 227 

But let a carping world censorious prove, 

Should this, from what our conscience bids us move ? 
Not they to greatness soar who heed such scorn, 

From fools ejected and of envy born. 
The Roman warrior, the Grecian sage, 

The saintly few whose lives redeemed their age, 
'Mid floods of censure, vile as undeserved, 

A bearing brave, persistent have preserved. 
Then let the crowd misjudge thee as it will, 

With sense of right, be firm, press onward still, 
And as the eagle soars beyond the cloud, 

Looks down unmoved above the lessening crowd, 
Far o'er the dwindling critics thou wilt sail, 

And smile at those whose schemes can naught avail. 



INDIVIDUALITY. 

NO two alike on earth are made, 
All differ, if by faintest shade ; 
Distinction marks created things, 
From beast that prowls, to bird that sings ; 
The fish that swarm within the sea, 
The insect tribe, from mite to bee, 
Have diverse features deep inlaid. 

Why thus should oneness be impressed, 
On objects in resemblance dressed, 
Except variety of sounds 
In Nature's harmony abounds ; 



228 Miscellaneous. 

That self alone should be preserved, 

Originality conserved, 

Whereby we speak and act the best ? 

Some often will a model take, 
From chance acquaintances they make; 
From cynosures who cause a stir, 
Through gifts conferred on him or her;- 
They think, e'en in their faults attired, 
That they will be as much admired, 
As those praised for their virtue's sake. 

The protean man is now alone, 
Next, normal self has quickly flown ; 
Behold him stately and erect, 
Then see him smile and genuflect ; 
To-day he seems quite rational, 
To-morrow, international, 
With lisps and shrugs and foreign tone. 

To-day he is aesthetical, 

But this is hypothetical, 

For, 'mid the changes found in life, 

The cockney slang may soon be rife ; 

His mother tongue receives a blow 

By " thanks awfully," and " you know," 

More vulgar than poetical. 

Alas, when wisdom stamps the age, 
Doth imitation thus engage ; 



Miscellaneous. 

The classic Romans aped the Greeks, 
Disturbing Cato by their freaks ; 
The token we can scarcely find, 
That tells the independent mind — 
'Mid quest for what is " all the rage." 

The rose courts not the lily's bloom, 
Nor envies she her sweet perfume ; 
But each in beauties given doth shine 
Admired alike, from source divine ; 
No more should we our gifts despise, 
On others look with envious eyes, 
Unmeaningly their ways assume. 



CALAMITY. 

CALAMITY! Oh, whence dost come, 
Thou grim destroyer, laying low 
The good, the grand, the beautiful — 
Ignoring treasure, haughty mien, 
Triumphal arch or state of kings — 
The gems of genius, wrought by Art, 
The pride of cities — hope of man ? 

Dost come through accident — caprice 

Of great creation's potentate ? 

In mercy to a suffering world, 

With besom dost thou harsh approach — 



229 



230 Miscellaneous. 

That many more may grow and live, 
In purer, higher walks, which lead 
To summits of eternity. 

Jehovah, who the lily gave, 
The rose to bloom and cheer the way 
By common footsteps trod — who lights 
With central fire, diffusing warmth, 
And opening nature to the eye — 
Who night adorns with silvery orb, 
'Mid changeless lamps of gentle beam, 
Descends in flood and hurricane, 
In bursting cloud and lurid glare, 
In desolating famine, sword 
And pestilence, with ruthless scythe — 
To bless in ways we cannot see. 

The forge of love, with glowing heat, 

Of visitation, handling rude, 

To stern endurance frames the soul, 

Which brings at length to pastures green, 

Whose margents waters still inclose. 

Therefrom are wrought in spotless white 

Kind ministries that never cease 

Dispensing comforts, which engage, 

Like visions of a holy eve — 

The peaceful iris, mists disclose, 

And resignation blinding tears. 

A country wounded statesmen heal. 



Miscellaneous. 231 

From war's defeat new heroes spring. 
The smitten rock clear water yields. 
To Moses, God, through fire, is known, 
'T is only, after dread portents, 
Elijah hears the still, small voice. 
From depths of woe, yet unrevealed, 
Come life and immortality. 



THE DYING ROSE. 

SEE, one by one, they fall, — 
The rose-leaves from their stem. 
Can nothing yet recall 
The queen's lost diadem ? 

Ah! one by one, they go,— 
The smiles that sweeten life ; 

As wavelets swiftly flow, 
Unseen in ocean's strife. 

A latent breath remains 

In yon bereaved plant, 
That many hues contains 

The vision to enchant. 

So when our dreams are dead, 
And buried in the ground, 

New fragrance may be shed, 
In holier gardens found. 



23 2 Miscellaneous. 

BE LOWLY, O CHRISTIAN ! 



BE lowly, O Christian, to all of thy kind, — 
A brother despise not, impoverished, obscure, — 
God sealed him thine equal, with heart and with mind,- 

Not less for his rescue did Jesus endure. 
By deed as by word let the poor man believe 
Thy vows to thy Master, ne'er made to deceive. 



Pray how art thou better than penury's child, 

With station, subservience to wealth at command ? 

Durst vaunt of a nature than his less defiled, 

A soul more defended from sorrow's dread hand ? 

Alike may ye taste of life's bitterest draught 

Sin's chalice commingled by both may be quaffed. 

in 
The nursling of fortune, inflated with pride, 

Surrenders conceit to the dust of which made, 
E'en Tarquin Superbus must sleep side by side 

With sycophant vassal of commonest grade. 
The despot who governs a world by his nod, 
Ignoble must die at the mandate of God. 

IV 

A signet divine wears the humblest brow, 
A coronet bright above rags may be seen ; 



Miscellaneous. 233 

A fair pearl of Grace may the plainest endow, 
A soul unpolluted 'mongst hovels is clean ; 
No atom of gold would you cast to the wind — 
Some gold in each mortal, observant, we find. 



Be lowly, then, Christian, nor let worldly caste 
Wear haughty demeanor to those of one birth ; 

Let toil-worn, neglected feel Christ's love is vast 

Through those who proclaim themselves followers upon 

Thus concord may reconcile differing estate [earth. 

Till Labor on Capital patiently wait. 



THOUGHTS ON VISITING THE GRAVE OF 
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



TREAD softly by the river, 
No common relics lie 
Beneath yon mound, which seems to say, 
" The great, the good must die." 

11 

Tread lightly by the river ; 

Ye see no tyrant's grave — 
Who trampled on the rights of man — 

Beside the peaceful wave. 



234 Miscellaneous. 

in 
One sleeps whose courage failed not 

'Mid war's most maddening din, 
Yet gentle as the gentlest child 

That slumbers free from sin. 

IV 

When blackest clouds hung o'er us 
In dread fraternal strife, 

A chieftain new revived the hosts 
And raised from death to life. 



No tempest rose more direful 

Abreast the ship of state. 
The sturdy pilot grasped the helm 

Deciding human fate. 

VI 

If needs," said he, " all summer through 

On this line I will fight." 
Such iron purpose cleaved the way 

To Richmond's distant height. 

VII 

His name can never perish 

Who gave the Union birth ; 
And green his wreath will ever be 

Who slavery swept from earth. 



Miscellaneous. 235 

VIII 

And while we laud the manhood 

That dealt the patriot blow, 
Our hearts commend the christian love 

Which raised a fallen foe. 

IX 

So long as beauteous sunset 

Shall glow on Hudson's tide, 
Will live the tale how blue and gray 

Wept, standing side by side. 

x 
That " mercy shown to others " 

He cannot fail to find, — 
Eclipsing far the dazzling fame 

The soldier leaves behind. 



THE HIDDEN CROSS. 

SCARCE ever to the eye appears, 
The cross within a soul's domain, 
'T is bathed in silent, secret tears 
Therewith are blended unknown fears, 
A muffled grief, an untold pain. 

Perhaps it is a broken vow, 

A faithful loving heart betrayed; 



236 Miscellaneous. 

The wreath torn from a hero's brow, 
Before a rival weak to bow ; 

A wound by hollow friendship made. 

Anon it is the wear and tear 
Of active life, of toil for bread, 

Dependent little ones in care ; 

Perchance a pauper's grave to share — 
A hopeless weeping for the dead. 

Whate'er it be of heart or mind, 

Or anguish caused this nerve-strung frame, 
In every child of woe we find 
A cross to which the world is blind — 
To rich, to poor, to all the same. 

Would we this unveiled sadness heal 

And stay the deep dark Marah-tide ? 
Another cross doth Christ reveal, 
Which all of grief cannot conceal 

Where Calvary's streams of mercy glide. 



THE BREAKER. 

ATI NY fleck of purest white creeps on from far, — 
Apace it comes with growing form, 
And now 't is lost, as lost in clouds the trembling star,- 
Again it speaks the hastening storm. 



Miscellaneous. 237 

Anon, as sensitive and deep stirred swells the breast, 
It rises stately towards its height 
Till dashed against resistful rocks in wild unrest, 
Its form is soon removed from sight. 

While many tearful eyes perceive the distant foam; 
Upon the face dismay is told; 
A watery winding sheet it seems to hearts o'ercome ; 
The ardent pulse of youth grows cold. 

Though wrecks, with loved and lost, the treacherous 

depths bestrew, 
Who cheerful bounded o'er the main, 
What heeds the mocking breaker gathering force anew, 
Presaging tempest fierce again ? 

While o'er the misty way we float towards spirit clime 
Some breaker rises, sure if slow, 
The faithful soul defies the ruthless floods of time, 
As yon stanch cliff the rage below. 



THE BELL BUOY. 

A BELFRY on the deep ; 
No land appears, — 
Yet mystic chiming strangely fills the air, — 
It wakes from sleep, 
It conjures fears, 
The source, — pray where ? 



238 Miscellaneous. 

Thou buoy that floats the wave, 
The secret tell — 
" Unwary ones that heed not dangerous shoals "- 
These notes would save ; 
My seeming spell, — 
" The sea controls." 

'Mid dancing, thoughtless spray 
These sentry sounds 
Betoken grief for those who sleep below, 
A dirge-like sway 
From ocean mounds — 
An echoed woe. 

Within each human breast 
The soul to keep, 
A warning bell to every one is known ; 
This signal blessed 
Mocks self-willed sleep — 
In undertone. 

'T is not on virtue's tide 
Its sounds we hear, 
But when sin's treacherous waters, seeming fair, 
Their perils hide — 
In kindness near — 
It rings, — " Beware." 



Miscella?ieous. 

ON THE DEATH OF NATHANIEL SMITH 
RICHARDSON, D. D. 

HE fell with his armor girded on, 
Equipped for the thickening strife ; 
The prize, through the Master bravely won, 
At once crowned his useful life. 

He valued the truth and sold it not, 

Did benison come, or blame, 
A message from God he ne'er forgot, 

Spite interest and scorn the same. 

While purblind prophets gave ready ear, 

As syrens their world-strain sang, 
Disdaining all sordid, craven fear, 

His tocsin unceasing rang. 



He watched with care, lest the Church, the Bride, 
From Bridegroom should be divorced ; — 

While fiercely brake the opposing tide, 
Of Christ, the Head, he discoursed. 

Repose in peace with each loyal heart, 

The palm of the Just be thine; 
Thy choice was the hard but better part, 

Upheld by a voice divine. 



239 



240 Miscellaneous. 

Whoe'er may condemn thy conscience word, 

Can scarcely fail to admire 
That spirit in man which will be heard, 

Undaunted by sword or fire. 

May those commissioned by One on high, 

Be ever as leal as he ; 
In love may they all as faithful vie, 

That Sion from taint be free. 

For place or pelf may they not be found, 

Accepting the false, if new ; 
In doctrine may each be stanch and sound, 

If kindred souls be the few. 



VAIN REGRETS. 

WHO that looks upon the past 
Does not ponder ? 
Who that reads its strange neglects, 

Does not wonder 
If the coming days shall prove 

Any better ? 
Whether Haste or Sloth shall write 

Such dark letter ? — 
Waste no sighs on what can ne'er 

Be prevented, 
Acts to which a pliant will 

Hath consented. 



Miscellaneous. 241 

Careless seedsmen oft become 

Far more chary, 
If the birds devour the grain 

When unwary. 
Dost thou for thy planting lost, 

Trouble borrow ? 
Prayerful sow, and thou shalt reap 

Joy, not sorrow. 



THE SILENT MARCH. 

THE march of life is onward ever, 
Its fleeing moments spurn delay ; 
As soon may man from being sever, 
As cease to tread its solemn way. 

When least aware we still are moving, 
All pilgrims toward an unseen goal; 

If slothful, or our days improving, 
We float along as billows roll. 

Nay, e'en when Sleep asserts dominion, 
Earth slumb'ring 'neath her drowsy reign, 

The swift- winged Hours ne'er fold a pinion — 
Their flight no less though star-beams wane. 

We cannot change the tide when flowing ; 

We cannot bind the zephyr free ; 
We cannot breast the life's on-going, 

Like streamlet gliding toward the sea. 



242 Miscellaneous. 

Momentous this resistless marching, 

This silent step toward shores unknown - 

'Mid Alpine glacier, desert parching — 
Its footprints found in every zone. 

But, oh, to ponder mystic winding 
In realms beyond our vision's range ! 

That paths there trod we here are finding, 
Is theme for musing, wondrous strange. 



THE TOMB OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 

ASIDE from traffic, in a humble brake, 
. Repose the relics of the poet Drake ; 
No classic column with surmounting bust, 

As yet denotes where lies the silent dust ; 
But willows lowly o'er him weeping bend, 

Dejected by the loss of Nature's friend. 
Although the Muse bewailed him in his prime, 

And Halleck grieved at Death's untoward time, 
Yet thoughts of ripeness and of Living Truth 

Adorned the treasures of a well spent youth. 
The " Culprit Fay," a pure aerial sprite, 

And " Freedom's Flag " with hues of heavenly light ; 
And " Gentle Bronx," whose unpretending tide, 

Doth through his magic numbers sweetly glide, — 
Are deep inlaid upon the scroll of fame, 

The deathless record of a well earned name. 



Miscellaneous. 243 

Though lightly did the bard esteem his worth, 

Consigned at last to this secluded earth ; — 
The fragrant wild-flower blooming near his bed, 

The wind that sighs, from briny billows shed, 
The lark that breaks the loneliness of morn, 

The harvest ripening with its wealth of corn, 
Seem now to speak, prophetic of that hour, 

When Drake in bronze shall test the artist's power, 
When merit shall its due award receive, 

And Genius slighted need no longer grieve. 



ODE TO STATEN ISLAND. 

AN isle with lovely shore 
Ix. O'erspread with rural bloom ; 
A city vast before 

Enwrapt in misty gloom. 
This pleasant isle, 
Not many a mile 

From where men pant for room. 

What place more fair conceived 
In Fancy's realms of light, 

Which those from toil relieved 
May greet with favored sight 

At set of sun, 

When work is done, 

And slow descends the night ? 



244 Miscellaneous . 

At Kill von Kull a ray 
In beauty decks the sea, 

At close of sultry day, 

When fettered limbs are free. 

A picture — joy, 

The heart's decoy, 

Bids brooding sorrow flee. 

But yet, ere eyes grow dim 
To note the passing year, 

These gardens, neat and trim, 
Perhaps will disappear, 

Till urban shade 

Shall shroud the glade, 

To please coarse traffic's whim. 

But let the prophet tell 

How landmarks are removed, 

I'll ne'er defy the spell 

Of present objects loved : — 

The bird and tree, 

The humming bee, 

Resistless charms have proved. 

Mosquitoes, Standard Oil, 
Or more unpleasant things, 

Shall try in vain to spoil, — 
I mind not fumes nor stings. 

A rural smile, 

Enchanting wile, 

Their fond oblivion brings. 



Miscellaneous. 245 



TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR THE MORROW 

WE eat the bread of care ; 
From morn to night we toil, 
Ne'er free from anxious thought, 
Begrimed with mundane soil. 
We climb as though for life ; 
On summits would be placed; 
We build vast futile plans 
By time to be effaced ; 
Absorbed in self alone 
Man envies those who rise; 
Let struggling victims groan 
He seeks to snatch the prize ; 
He vaunts and hugs his store 
As though 't were all in all, 
False laurels would he wear 
Though dearest friend should fall. 
His country or his town, 
His party house or name, 
He writes with glowing pride 
And blends them with his fame. 
Poor dupe of vain ambition, 
He ne'er has wisdom found, 
His grasping disposition 
Shows heart and mind unsound. 



A chieftain from the forest 



246 Miscellaneous. 

Who lived from day to day, 
As thrives the cared-for sparrow 
Or beast that finds its prey ; 
Who slept on grassy pillow 
Content with Nature's fare, 
With humblest comrade willing 
His fortune rude to share ; 
Is brought to greet a city 
Where art's attractions rise, 
Where palaces and towers 
And parks salute his eyes. — 
His guide, supposing, dazzled 
At sights so rare as these, 
The wild and dusky savage, 
Asks what his taste might please. 
The chieftain, nought affected, — 
As deems his eager host — 
Doth ne'er vouchsafe to mention 
What charm delights him most ; 
But lost in grave reflection, 
This strange response doth give,- 
" It seems to me you white folk 
Try very hard to live." 



Miscellaneous. 247 



LIFE IN DEATH. 

(A group of passengers on a sinking ship join hands and perish 
together. ) 

OUT on the sea, 
Far from the land, 
Buoyant with glee, 
Floats a gay band. 

Hope's banners fly, 

Laughter is loud ; 
O'er heart, o'er sky, 

Hovers no cloud. 

Out on the sea, 

Far from the land, 
Hushed is the glee ; 

Storm waves command. 

Soon on the deep, 

Dangers appal : 
Death's final sleep 

Waiting for all. 

Out on the sea, 

Far from the land, 
Souls shall be free, 

Hand clasping hand. 



248 Miscellaneous. 

Singing a hymn, 
Breathing a prayer, 

Sense becomes dim; 
One grave they share. 

Tossed on the sea, — 
Safe on the shore, — 

Christ's should we be, 
One evermore. 

Happy such tie, 

Sealed with last breath, 

Witnessed on high, . 
Hallowing death. 



FIRST IN PEACE, FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN 
THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN. 



FULL tribute pay to him who, first in peace, 
Demands that grateful tokens never cease. 
The earliest helmsman to our bark of state, 
In civic power uprose a leader great. 
Wild faction's storm his skill at once allayed, 
Who governed self and thus the people swayed. 
The olive twine for him, our birthright won — 
Our heaven-ruled President — our Washington. 



Miscellaneous. 



'49 



He, first in peace, as first in war, we place, 
When on the field his martial course we trace. 
'Gainst soldiers, battle-trained, he drew his sword, 
Inspiring untried troops with cheering word. 
But human rights his willing footsteps led, 
And thus he conquered while dissuasion fled. 
The laurel weave for work so nobly done, 
In freedom's cause, by valiant Washington. 

in 

Each distant land resounding echo gives 
That first within his country's heart he lives, 
A patriot true, awake to duty's claim, 
His honor dearer held than wealth or fame. — 
At last, when all his lustrous traits we scan, 
Our judgment yields approval to — a man. 
With amaranthine bloom that braves the sun, 
Let memory crown the peerless Washington. 



WINTER. 

BOISTEROUS winter, prophet of ill, 
Rough side of nature, desolate, chill, 
Killing the flower, stripping the tree, 
Forcing the song-bird southward to flee, 
Driving the kine from bleak field to stall, 
Heaping the snowdrift over the wall, 



250 Miscellaneous. 

Rifling of verdure grass-laden mead, 
Sealing in earth the slumbering seed, 
Hasting the twelvemonth sere to its close, 
Numbing the muse that genially flows, 
Sporting at will with shivering forms, 
Filling with dread at gathering storms, 
Slippery pavements, tottering gait, 
Causing delay, till keen frosts abate. 
Winter enchaining the body and will, 
Swift stream arresting, hushing the mill, 
Heedless of murmurs heard from the poor, 
Hungry and half-clad, found at the door. 
Messenger dread, congealing the breath, 
Curdling the blood, and warning of death — 
Hie thee far hence, thou grim Arctic shade, 
Get thee where sunbeams never pervade. 
Ungracious winter, harsh dost thou seem, 
When disenchanting autumn's soft dream. 
Yet if we judge in kindlier mood, 
Candor reveals a friend true and good ; 
Rough in demeanor, tender in heart, 
Such is the verdict time doth impart. 
Often seems fortune dismal at first, 
Clouds of destruction ready to burst, 
While underlying mercies divine 
Shine like the gold relieving the mine ; 
So with thee, winter, deemed most severe, 
Favor diffused, will surely appear. 
Rosy-hued health is borne on thy wing, 
Pestilent fever no more is king ; 



Miscellaneous. 



2 5i 



Over the slothful thy bracing sway 

Banishes languor, seizing the day ; 

Home made the stronghold, decked with more 

charms, 
Terrors external wholly disarms; 
Thine is glad Christmas, yule-logs aglow, 
Evergreens torn from fast clinging snow ; 
And though some mourner drop a sad tear, 
Spirits elate salute thy New Year. 
Thine merry sleigh-bells, rush of gay steed, 
Coasting, lithe skaters graceful in speed; 
Thine the glad moonlight, glittering star, 
Flashing Aurora shooting afar ; 
Pendants adorning roof-top and tree, 
Branches in mail which flash like the sea. 
Hard-favored winter spread like a pall, 
Heaven-favored winter smiling on all. 



LIFE AS IT IS. 

THIS life is but a thing of fears, 
A dream of hopes, of smiles, of tears — 
A blossom which at morning blows, 
A blossom which at evening goes — 
A flower tinged with beauty's blush, 
Which any thoughtless tread may crush ; 
A sky of azure, fair and bright, 
That storm-clouds quick obscure from sight ; 



2 5 2 Miscellaneous. 

A moonbeam's evanescent play, 
Which ere the day-dawn speeds away; 
A bubble floating on a lake 
That soon a passing breeze may break; 
A wave which tosses high and free, 
Then dies upon a tranquil sea. 
Life as it is — a songster proud 
Which leaves its perch to seek the cloud, 
But soon falls low with flutt'ring wing, 
No more to soar, no more to sing. 
Oh, fearful art thou, human life, 
Thou fitful thing, thou thing of strife ! 
Why mock us with the promise bright, 
Then leave behind the gloom of night ? 
Not so that life which is to be — 
There no alloy, no mockery, 
No transient smile, no bitter tear, 
No intermingling hope and fear; 
No fading light, no short-lived bloom, 
No preparation for the tomb ; 
No palsied joy, no fleeting breath, 
No throbbing pulses, hushed in death ; 
But as the eagle soars from sight, 
And leaves behind each mountain height, 
Ne'er pausing in his upward way, 
While yet remains one golden ray, 
So soars man's spirit, once set free 
In that pure life which is to be. 



Miscellaneous. 253 



IN MEMORY OF THE LATE REV. STEPHEN H. 
TYNG, D. D. 

1 

NOT every hero guards the eternal cause — 
A beacon light : 
On Zion's heaven-lit towers the warders pause, — 
Nay, yield the fight. 

11 

It brightens hope to trace — where softness reigns — ■ 

Unflinching nerve ; 
The valiant few who offer self, time, pains, 

Their King to serve. 

in 

One hence has gone, with iron purpose fraught, 

To speak as told 
From Sinai's mount, or where the Saviour taught 

In words of gold. 

IV 

His matchless trust he did not vend at will — 

A huckster vile — 
To changing markets in celestial wares 

Of any style. 



254 Miscellaneous. 



One central truth enlisted thought and breath, 

'T was Jesus' love; 
Discoursing how it brought up Life from Death, 

He sought to move. 

VI 

Crowds pressed to hear, because he held the Cross 

In open view ; 
Like Paul, he deemed all else on earth but loss — 

Such mind they knew. 

VII 

As shined to Constantine the signal weird 

By which to win, 
There seemed before his daily sight, upreared, 

This cure for sin. 

VIII 

Socratic power informed his ripened speech, 

Instructing youth ; 
Unmoved by threat or favor, " apt to teach" 

Fair Wisdom's truth. 

IX 

Take heart, ye timid guides, who fear to tell 

The " narrow way " ; 
Let soldiers brave, in Christ who war so well, 

The spirit sway. 



Miscellaneous. 255 



I LOOK BEYOND. 

I LOOK beyond this teasing care, 
Which, like the stinging pest, 
That will not let me rest, 

Drives reason from her lofty throne, 
'Mid hopeless, grim despair. 

I look beyond colossal wrong, 

With shameless Gorgon head, 

A timid nation's dread, 

Which makes an oft-defeated will 
To cringe before the strong. 

I look beyond the lessening light, 

That surely, slowly fades 

'Mid gathering evening shades, 

While breathings weird from mystic realms 
Reveal 't will soon be night. 

I look beyond the thoughts that craze 

The weakling, finite mind, 

That sees not God behind, — 

Whereby this perfect plan doth seem 
A wildering needless maze. 

Ye troubled children of to-day, 
«, Whose hearts are in a sphere 



256 Miscellaneous. 

We know must disappear, 

Pause not to dream and moan and pine, 
But look beyond, I say. 



TO BESSIE, MY ELDER DAUGHTER, 

ON HER SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY. 

JUST sweet sixteen — that golden age, 
Enrolled on life's mysterious page, 
When, childhood's hours of sunshine gone, 
Some cherished hopes have with them flown. 
Dear Bessie, 't is a parent's will 
A child thou shouldst continue still ; 
That freshness yet suffuse thy heart, 
And true nobility impart ; 
That guilelessness may never cease, 
But always cause thee inward peace ; 
That youthful trust may gently twine 
Its fadeless wreath of love divine, 
Whose pensive halo on thy brow 
May ever seal the fontal vow ; 
That thou submit to His kind hand 
Who points us to the better land. 
Be simple in thy every aim 
And heed not fashion's hollow claim. 
If others seek in wealth to shine, 
Let household virtues pure be thine. * 



Miscellaneous. 257 

Remember, beauty e'en most rare 
Without discretion is a glare, 
And duty should our time employ, 
While pleasure is a wayside toy. 
Obtain the precious wealth of soul 
Whose winning and whose strong control 
Will charm when youth has had its day 
And human graces lose their sway. 
That God may bless thy future years 
And give thee more of smiles than tears, 
And thou at last His joy may share, 
Dear Bessie, is a father's prayer. 



TO SALLIE, MY YOUNGER DAUGHTER, 

BEYOND the river Acheron, in Greece, it was supposed 
That classic gardens in their bloom the asphodel 
exposed, — 
This faithful flower place near thy heart, which constancy 

will teach; 
Such emblem for thy life on earth — a future life will reach. 

The jassamine, of spotless white, with leaves of brightest 

green, 
Is known, by fragrance sweet exhaled, before its form is 

seen : 



258 Miscellaneous. 

It breathes of kind pervasiveness that fills a loving face ; — 
Let friends at distance know thee near, through pure 
affection's grace. 

The humble broom a monarch plucks to deck his royal 

crest ; 
This modest plant with dignity did valiant knights invest ; 
So let thy unpretending worth suggest a purpose higher, 
To meet the choice of Christ our King, thy first, thy last 

desire. 

BEAUTIFUL HUDSON. 

O BEAUTIFUL Hudson, roll on in thy might, 
So wooingly bathed in the moon's soft'ned light ! 
How fain would I watch from the highlands above 
Each bark on thy breast, like a snowy wing'd dove. 

Most pleasant to ponder the Catskill's repose, 
As deepens the shade at the day's gentle close; 
To linger in summer time near Tappan Zee, 
'Mid song of the wood bird or hum of the bee ! 

O beautiful Hudson, thou stream of my heart, 
Awakening thoughts that can never depart, 
How sweet to recall on the far distant strand, 
Thee, fairest of rivers that grace our free land ! 

Let other bards sing of the beautiful Rhine, 

Whose turret-crowned hills bear resemblance to thine, 



Miscellaneous. 259 

But give me that stream which on Nature alone 
Has builded her claims and established her throne. 



THE AIR OF SIASCONSET. 

THE air of Siasconset, 
Is fortified with health ; 
'T is full of benediction, 
It yields far more than wealth. 
It turns despondency to joy, 
And man becomes again — a boy. 

It lifts the soul to heaven, 
Whence every good descends, 
It banishes ill feeling, 
The genial mind befriends. 
Malaria — hated poison — flies, 
Its ills to plant 'neath other skies. 

When wearied in the city, 

O'ercome with heat and toil, 

We sigh to tread the paths once more, 

Upon this wave-washed soil, — 

To breathe where Sanketty's head-light, 

Dispels the sailors' fears at night. 

The wild rose we would gather, 
That decks Nantucket isle, 



2 6 o Miscellaneous. 



Would revel in its fragrance, 
And catch again its smile ; — 
Would sip the tonic Neptune gives 
By which the drooping spirit lives. 

Of elements protected, 
From touch of aught unclean ; 
In laboratory faultless, 
Whose workings are unseen — 
Is formed supply of best ozone, 
To wand of science ever known. 

Grotesque is Siasconset, 
With relics strange and old ; 
Yet they who seek to find them, 
Attractions more behold ; 
But chiefly are we bidden there, 
By power embosomed in its air. 



CAST ANCHOR. 

TWO vessels start upon the deep 
To reach a distant shore ; 
'Mid storm- winds rising from their sleep, 
And distant storm-waves roar. 

" Cast anchor," speaks a solemn voice, 
'T is madness to proceed ; 



Miscella,7ieous. 261 

One captain makes a fatal choice, 
The other quick takes heed. 

Ere long the wild o'ermastering gale 

Ingulfs a reckless crew ; 
While safely rides a folded sail 

Above the waters blue. 

Two youths start forth upon the tide 
Of life's uncertain sea ; 
" Cast anchor " on the heav'nly side, 
Speaks forth Eternity. 

For one that voice is raised in vain, 

The other marks its notes ; 
A human bark is driven amain, 

Its fellow safely floats. 

Seems all above serene and clear 

Within this world of ours ? 
Behold yon darkling cloud appear, 

Which o'er the sunshine lowers. 

" Cast anchor, " friend, within the veil, 

And let wild billows beat ; 
They cannot o'er thy faith prevail, 
Disturb thy sure retreat. 



262 Miscellaneous. 

ON HEARING THE EVENING GUN AT 
QUARANTINE, STATEN ISLAND. 

HARK to the sound of the evening gun, 
Proclaiming the work of day is done ; 
Dismissing the sons of toil to rest, 
While drooping the bird now seeks its nest. 

Hark to the sound of the evening gun, 
It speaks of the hour when hearts are won, 
When Cupid shall weave his mystic spell, 
Which on the unending years shall tell. 

Hark to the sound of the evening gun, 
It bids us observe the setting sun, — 
That, with its last ray, the dreams depart, 
Which brightened at morn the sanguine heart. 

Hark to its cheerful tone, "All is well," 
As dying upon the ocean swell ; 
It loudly declares — One never sleeps, 
Who tender and faithful vigil keeps. 

Hark to the sound of the evening gun, 
Reminding of evil we should shun ; 
It asks " Till to-morrow, why delay — 
A summons of duty's voice to-day ? " 



Miscellaneous. 263 

Hark to the sound of the evening gun, 
It warns us the race is nearly run, 
It echoes, " The strife will soon be o'er," 
While booming along the distant shore. 



MY FLOWERS. 

A Dying Mother's Request to Her Daughter. 

COME closer to thy mother dear, 
And place thy hand in mine, 
I feel the warning very near 
When earth I must resign. 

One simple charge to thee I make, 

Which charge, if thou obey, 
Content I '11 let the angels take 

My spirit far away. 

The boon I ask is — that these flowers, 

Which, 'mid the wintry gloom, 
As though just washed by summer showers, 

Send forth their sweet perfume, 

May be the objects of thy care, 

As they have been of mine ; 
That thou 'It protect each leaflet rare 

Nor let their beauties pine. 



264 Miscella?ieous. 

Observe them e'en as I have done, 

With ever anxious eye, 
Be wary lest a single one 

Untimely droop and die. 

And think not that the boon I crave 

Ill-suited to this hour, — 
That 'mid delirium I rave 

About a transient flower. 

I 've watched each rosebud slowly ope, 

I 've seen each lily fade, 
With one my soul renewed its hope, 

Which with the last decayed. 

These silent teachers sweetly tell 

The story of Christ's love, 
Vain doubts depart as by a spell, 

Where words could never move. 

Oh, may our Father by such means, 

Exalt thy soul from earth; 
While on His strength thy weakness leans, 

Who gave these flow'rets birth. 



Miscellaneous. 265 

DEDICATION OF AN ALBUM 

Belonging to a little girl celebrated for her musical talent. 

FAIR child, this world is now but new to thee, 
While hope paints what the coming life may be, — 
But trust not hope, for oft she hath deceived 
The young, who have her promises believed. 
Yet should thy future days be dark or bright, 
Thy wounds a balm may find, thy footsteps light. 
Obey the guidance of our Friend on high, 
Who leads to where the verdant pastures lie, 
And thus life's roses shall expand for thee, 
While thou its thorns shall never feel nor see. 
Improve thy gifts and cultivate the heart, 
And blessings shall be thine where'er thou art. 
Thy guardians will approve, esteem will grow, 
The streams of self-respect unceasing flow. 
God grant thee power long to sing and play, 
And chase from many an eye the tear away, 
Till, at the last, a mystic harp be given, 
Whose thrilling tones thy skill shall wake in Heaven. 

THE MAGDALEN'S PRAYER. 

DEAR Saviour fold me in thy love, 
And take me to thy care : 
From intercession's heights above, 
Oh, hear a sinner's prayer ! 



266 Miscellaneous. 

A scornful world derides my tears 
And casts me from its sight ; 

Let thy free pardon quench my tears, 
With all-prevailing might. 

The lab'rer seeks at eve his home, 
With footstep light and free; 

But I from morn to night must roam, 
Bow'd down with misery. 

Alas, a thoughtless hour beguiled 
Amid the paths of shame — 

I deemed him true who falsely smiled, 
To rob me of my name. 

As now I gaze on yonder tide, 
With waters dark and deep — 

My foul disgrace I fain would hide 
In death's oblivious sleep. 

But yet I shudder as the winds 
Seem searching to my heart ; — 

A hidden power my purpose binds, 
And from myself I start. 

Dear Saviour, thou dost intervene, 
Restraining my intent — 

Thy watchful mercy now is seen 
This madness to prevent. 



Miscellaneous. 267 

The fallen sister thou didst raise 
And soothe her throbbing breast, — 

And should I fail thy love to praise, 
And on thy word to rest ? 

Then, Jesus, fold me in that love, 

And take me to thy care ; 
From intercession's heights above 

Oh, hear a sinner's prayer ! 

PARTING HYMN AT THE VAN NORMAN 
INSTITUTE. 

Written for the Class of 1879. 

MINGLED emotions, engaging the heart, 
Sadly remind us that classmates must part ; 
Leaving the dreamland of girlhood's fresh life, 
Seeking the upland in earth's fitful strife. 

Lasting are ties which so tenderly bind, 
Comrades engrossed in the treasures of mind; — 
While union, springing from fancy, must wane, 
Ours deeply rooted will ever remain. 

May the good seed with such carefulness sown, 
Yield when the days of our youth have long flown ; 
In the hereafter, when mortals are free, 
Glorious fruitage may all of us see. 



268 Miscella?ieons. 

Teachers so patient and schoolmates so dear, 
Mem'ry will hallow through each changing year. 
Ever be vivid those fast speeding hours, 
Which we have shared amid learning's fair bowers. 



Blessings for all who, assembled to-day, 
Wish us God-speed on the uncertain way; 
May they with reverence always thus prize 
Knowledge, that legacy sent from the skies. 

Help us, kind Father, our duty to know, 
Led by Thy hand, — in its path may we go; 
Feeling that guidance, protection and love, 
Never will fail where our aim is above. 



ATHEISM. 

WE here were placed to perish like the brute, 
Though sorrow has our portion been, 
And hope has ne'er fruition seen, — 
Forever must the lips in death be mute. 

The invalid with languid pulse and eye, 
The laborer bending 'neath his care, 
Who must his daily burdens bear, 

Sees at the end no prospect but — to die. 



Miscellaneous. 269 

He, long immured from light, with clanking chain, 

The man of every friend bereft, 

Without a face of kindred left, 
Must look beyond conjecture's mists, — in vain. 

As they who cast their nets and nothing found, 
When gloom of night did long invest, 
And weary limbs obtained no rest, 

Are we with life-work buried in the ground. 

No promise comes the final hour to cheer, 
When racking pains disturb repose, 
And weeping friends predict the close, 

And next await the knell, the shroud, the bier. 

Such cheerless view, perverted science takes; 

She tells us, this poor life is all, 

The future hiding with a pall, 
That, when man dies, he never more awakes. 

Assumption most fallacious, most unwise, 
It makes Creation but a joke, 
And Providence dissolves in smoke ; 

Our planet seems a mere balloon that flies. 

No stimulus exists for hero's deeds, 

For truth's advance, mind's higher play, — 
But honors merely of a day, 

While partially are given this world's meeds. 



270 Miscellaneoics. 

Much we prefer to place before such dross, 
Some signal of a land in store, 
Some sunbeam from the Evermore, 

Some vision of the all-prevailing Cross. 

To lift the soul, so oft obscured by tears, 
To give a purpose and an aim, 
For love disclosed to each the same ; — 

We need some Revelation through the years. 

And when, at last, in Time's relentless date, 
We reach the problem of the sod, 
'T were well to feel " there is a God," 

And yield to Him the spirit and its fate. 



ON SEEING A PICTURE OF HOMEWARD 
LABORERS AT PRAYER. 

DEVOTION'S hour is drawing near, 
Yon little chapel lifts its spire ; 
All work is o'er and now appear 
Those seeking home in soiled attire. 

As slow the evening shadows fall 
And mellowed beauty fills the sky, 

A heavenly light descends on all, 
Who grateful kneel to One on high. 



Miscellaneous. 271 

God bless the workmen of our land, 
And make them cheerful 'mid their lot ; 

And may a smiling Christian band 
Be found in every humble cot. 

THE WINDS. 

YE winds speak a language consoling or sad, 
As trifling through arbors, or seemingly mad; 
While cooling this evening my o'erheated brow, 
Ye tell of some streamlet with cadences low. 
Like dirges ye sound from the old Abbey walls, 
Or castle historic with desolate halls. 
When shrieking at midnight, with terror ye fill, 
As though ye were laden with tidings of ill. 
Ye storm-winds that dismally howl o'er the deep, 
Seem mourning for loved ones the loving must weep. 
Ye mutter, O north winds, of ice-fettered lands, 
Restraining the frolicsome wave with your bands, 
As death puts to silence a child's harmless glee 
Ere echo respond to its laughter so free. 
Yet kind are your words to the heat-stricken soil, 
Dispelling the languor from wearisome toil. 
Ah, welcome Zephyrus, from yon favored clime 
Where Poesie's triumphs mock old Father Time, 
While chilled are our spirits by pitiless frost, 
Proclaim to us visions of loveliness lost. 
When erst to Eolus Ulysses had come, 
By thee was he gently brought back to his throne; 



272 Miscellaneous. 

So summon the Ithaca fair that we knew, 

Ere faded the scenes of our childhood from view : 

Let tones early treasured again greet the ear, 

Oft lending a smile which would vanquish a tear. 

Let once more the mocking-bird thrill with his lay, 

Reminding of happiness, not long to stay, 

The oriole bring with its beautiful hue, 

Which glows like the heart of a Southerner true, 

Inviting the stranger to tarry and share 

His board, though supplied with the commonest fare. 

The voice of the south wind speaks peace to my soul, 

A life, I disclose not, its accents control, 

With kindness that leads me to more pensive hours, 

When soothingly floating 'mid gardens of flowers. 

It sweetly retraces fresh days that were mine, 

Where grow the magnolia, the orange and vine. 



ON PRESENTING A FLORAL HORSESHOE 
TO A BRIDE. 

GOOD luck be thine,— 
May love entwine 
Its garlands for thy life; 
May iron heel 
Ne'er crush thy weal, 
In guise of wedded strife. 



Miscellaneous. 273 

As fades each flower 

In every bower, 
So beauty droops its head ; — 

'Neath love's control, 

Peace fills the soul 
When youthful charms have fled. 



NEVER DESPAIR. 

NEVER despair, if afar, unalluring, 
The heights to be scaled ere the shadows descend; 
Let courage be instant, thy footstep assuring, 

While hope, the kind handmaiden, smiles to befriend. 

Never despair, if when livelihood seeking, 
Or honest repute in profession or trade, 

Misfortune with direful purposes reeking, 

Thy life-earnings scatter, thy just aims invade. 

Never despair, if when bravely contending 
For freedom, for all that is dear to the soul, 

O'ercome is the castle of truth while defending, 
The cohorts of Belial wresting control. 

Never despair, if the church or the nation 
Surrender to ignorance, interest or fear, 

If progress expire in a wide desolation 

And.Dagon and Bel in each temple appear. 



274 Miscellaneous. 

Never despair, if thy good should be doubted, 
Thy toil for the welfare of others be blamed, 

Thy efforts for conscience be sneeringly scouted, 
And selfish, deceitful, thy mission be named. 



Never despair, if the blight of some illness 
Should wither the dreamland of unfading joy, 

If pain, never ceasing, monotonous stillness, 

Through wearisome watchings thy peace should 
destroy. 

Never despair, if thy pulse be declining, 
The sands of existence fast passing away, 

When, too late, the season for useless repining, 
The spirit is leaving its prison of clay. 

Never despair, if thy burden seem greater 
Than man can endure in his sensitive mold, 

And take not, but cherish that life the Creator 
Bestowed for some end His wise counsels enfold. 

Comfort descends from hope's fetterless regions, 
From martyrs in glory through echoing air, 

Attested by throngs of beatified legions — 

To fainting hearts whispering — Never despair. 



Miscellaneous. 275 



ON THE NEW VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

OH, give me back the old words, 
The words to memory dear, 
I do not like the new words, 

They harshly greet the ear ; 
I love the words my mother taught, 

In voice of mildest tone, 
As borne by swift-winged seraphs, 
They went up to the throne. 

Oh, give me back the old words, 

In school-room heard of yore, 
Before instruction's round began 

In varied tasks of lore ; — 
A solace when the book was read 

Within the house of prayer, 
When pointed out the strait gate, 

And shown each sinful snare. 

Oh, give me back the old words 

Oft uttered on the wave, 
When, 'mid the storm's commotion, 

I felt but One could save ; 
My eyelids could not close at night 

Without both shame and fear, 
Unless I read those verses, 

Profound and yet so clear. 



276 Miscellaneous. 

Oh, give me back the loved words, 

Which soothed the aching brow, 
When all of earth's prescriptions 

No healing could bestow ; 
Upon the weary couch they cheered 

When filled with racking pain ; 
'Mid cruel disappointment, 

When life seemed dark and vain. 

Ere dust to dust be spoken 

Above the gloomy sod, 
And upward soars my spirit, 

To reach the realms of God ; 
I do not wish a different phrase, 

From that oft heard before, 
As through the aisle so hallowed 

Some cherished form they bore. 

If creed be known through language, 

And who can say 't is not, 
Then should those well-known symbols 

Forever be forgot ? 
They still convey the buoyant thought 

Of angels near the throne, 
The light to mortals given, 

Oppressed, o'ercome, alone. 

It may be that the new words 
Can please the scholar-mind, 



Miscellaneous. 277 

But in the old revered ones 

The saving truth I find. 
For me their simple Saxon ring, 

Their quaint and homely power, 
Exceed by far in sweetness, 

This fashion of the hour. 



NO NORTH, NO SOUTH. 

FROM loving lakes that seaward flow 
To golden mines of Mexico, 
From Eastern mart to Western coast 
'T is now a freeman's honest boast — 

No North, no South. 

The wounds are healed that brothers made 
From Maine to tropic everglade ; 
All cold suspicions now have fled, 
Are with vindictive embers dead. 

No North, no South. 

The chain in which the slave was bound 
Clanks not with harsh unchristian sound ; 
False zeal provoking latent strife 
No longer seeks to jeopard life. 

No North, no South. 

A heavenly voice has hushed to peace 
Where warring words might never cease, 



278 Miscellafieous. 

Uniting those within our land 
Long years restrained through party's band. 
No North, no South. 

God keeps His children low in dust, 
To purge away their cankering lust, — 
Then kindly lifts to joy again 
. When wrong succumbs to healthful pain. 
No North, no South. 

Avaunt ye lingering ghouls of hate, 
Be emulous to raise the State ; 
Revive not more the checkered past, 
On Lethe's wave dead issues cast. 

No North, no South. 

An hundred years have fled away, 
The Country stronger day by day, 
For 't is not man that gives us life, 
But One who stills convulsive strife. 

No North, no South. 

And speed the cry — no East, no West, — 
No foreign sway — nor worst nor best — 
With specious wiles shall clog the stream 
Of progress towards the Nation's dream. 
No North, no South. 



Miscellaneous. 279 



REFINEMENT. 

FROM God is given a human frame 
To intellect allied, — 
And means by which to mold the same, 

His providence supplied. 
He chief performs creation's will 

Who treats his gifts aright, 
Who makes them all their parts fulfill 

Till growing to their height. 
When stern utility has wrought, 

Refinement claims a place, 
And ceaseless toils till powers are fraught, 

With skillfulness and grace. 
Thus man like some strong building seems, 

Enduring and adorned, 
Or like a beauteous ship whose beams 

And hull for strength are formed. 
Or like some landscape bold and smooth, 

With rock and lake and sky, 
Which speaking use and beauty soothe 

And gratify the eye : 
He needs not wealth to give him place, 

Or favor of the great : 
He shines an honor to his race, 

With neither gold nor state. 



2 8 o Miscellaneous. 



EASTER CAROL. 



BEAUTEOUS Easter morn, 
Roseate beam of love, 
Brighten, bless, adorn, 

Smile from realms above. 
Modest opening flower, 

Fragrant greets the sky ; 
Lift us by thy power, 
Vows ascending high ! 

CHORUS. 

Beauteous Easter morn, 
Roseate beam of love, 

Brighten, bless, adorn, 
Smile from realms above. 

ii 

Grant relief to care, 

Cause alarms to cease, 
Broken lives repair, 

Paint the bow of peace, 
Let each bond be rent, 

Envy bid depart, 
Give the poor content, 

Move the churlish heart. 



Miscellaneous. 2 8 1 

in 
Shine 'mid household gloom 

Ne'er dispelled before, 
Let Emmanuel's bloom 

Crown each pagan shore : 
Till forgiving ray 

Gleam above the rod, 
Roll each stone away, 

Keeping souls from God. 



MY WORLD WITHIN. 

I HAVE a little world I call my own, 
No life of commonplace can claim its throne, 
Far, far aloof from ponderous thought or care ; 
This calm retreat an angel e'en might share ; 
Perchance 't is found while floating o'er the sea, 
Where dancing waves are tossing proud and free ; 
Or else 't is known when I, with book in hand, 
Am pensive strolling o'er the pebbly sand. 
No place, no occupation may conceal 
Enjoyment which its treasured haunts reveal. 
Such pleasant refuge is within my mind, 
And there alone this little world I find. 
Its walks serene, no poverty may reach, 
No sheriff's summons cause the slightest breach ; 
The breath of scandal or the sneer of fools, 
The plots of knav'ry with its shuffling tools, — - 



282 Miscellaneous. 

A rival's envy or the rich man's gold 

Their power to injure here no longer hold. 

Far sooner may you scale the azure sky 

Than touch this home from which all shadows fly. 



CLOUDS. 

HOW gently they float on the still twilight air, 
In forms most mysterious, varied and rare ; 
Now draped in vermilion or dappled in gold, 
They seem all emblazoned with riches untold. 
At midday how fleecily sail they above, 
Like good angels watching in silence and love. 
How densely they hover enshrouding the steep, 
As tempests arise in their furious sweep ; 
And when the deep thunderings cease to dismay, 
How quickly they break 'neath the gladdening ray. 
This world is a radiant world to our sight ; 
Still, many a jetty cloud shuts out its light, 
But glories will deck e'en the shadows most drear, 
And make God's inscrutable providence clear; 
And when towards life's evening the sun sinks to rest, 
A bow will illumine the beautiful west. 



Miscellaneous. 283 

LIVE IT DOWN. 

HAS a foolish word been spoken, 
Or an evil deed been done ; 
Has the heart been almost broken, 

For the friends that now disown ? 
Let not coldness or the frown, 
Shake thy manhood — live it down. 

Is the stern traducer sneering, 

Thrusting innuendo vile, 
With the world's opinion veering, 

Basking in its fickle smile ? 
What are gossips with their frown ? 
Buzzing insects — live it down. 

Verdict fairer will be given, 

In the sober afterthought ; 
Charity, sweet child of Heaven, 

Judgment harsh will set at naught ; 
Then will grieved Mercy's frown 
Smite the slanderer — live it down. 

But if man refuse to soften, 

For that weakness he may feel, 
There is One forgives us often, 

As to Him we choose to kneel ; 
Droop not then whoe'er may frown ; 
With such friendship — live it down. 



284 Miscellaneous. 



T 



STANLEY'S MARCH. 

HE muse that lifts immortal strain to pure emprise 

and manly 
Across the wave a tribute sends to note thy genius, 

Stanley ! 
As history will grave thy name with those that never 

perish, 
So poesy reserves her right thy signal deeds to cherish. 



The press fulfilled its mission high when choosing thee to 

banish 
The shades enshrouding Afric's waste which at thy spell 

must vanish. 
To ope the way for Christian light, revealing civic power, 
To plant upon the serpent's head the heel, is now thy 

dower. 

The mantle of a Livingstone, that master, is upon thee, 
Reconsecrated for thy work, his spirit grand hath won 

thee. 
Increasing motive presses close to make thy purpose 

stronger, 
Till thou to meet thy life's intent canst seek the goal no 

longer. 



Miscellaneous. 285 

Bold Stanley, on — complete the task denned by One 

above thee, 
Of science thou hast fondest wish, the prayers of those 

that love thee. 
Whatever be the coronal from earth's award receiving, 
Thy sense of aid from God's right arm a deathless crown 

is weaving. 



THE OPEN DOOR. 

RING it through the welkin, 
Ring it ye who can, 
Cruel strife is ended 

'Twixt Russia and Japan. 

Praise the wise Mikado, 
Sound in head and heart, 

Love and prudence blending, 
Who chose the better part. 

Roosevelt, strong 'mid tempest 
Bringing rainbow peace, 

We raise for him a paean, 

Whose strains will never cease. 

Soon may spicy breezes, 
Waft from shore to shore, 



286 Miscellaneous. 



News that where God knocketh 
He finds " an open door." 

Let the truth resounding 
Leap from hill to hill, 
Ne'er was breathed such anthem 
" Peace on earth, good will." 



AT QUOGUE. 

ENRAPT do I muse on the surf-beaten shore, 
While thought tides along with the dash and the 
roar: 
The waves bead and beam, 
They foam and they cream, 
Like dolphins they play as they leap in their might, 
Then vanish like meteors 'mid 'blazoning light. 

They savagely chase one another amain, 

Like soldiers their foemen on stretch and on strain, 

They dip and they dive, 

They seem all alive, 
Confused or in regular line they advance, 
Bacchantes 'mid orgies that shout and that dance. 

They wrangle, they tangle, they tear and they glare, 
Like tigers in jungles or roused from the lair, 

Like serpents they coil, 

Lashed slaves do they toil. 



Miscellaneous. 287 

All, what is our life but an ebb and a flow 
Of billows that come and of billows that go! 
In ocean's sad monotone grief hears a wail 

From those who go down in the calm or the gale— 

Yet a voice from the spray, 

So happy, so gay, 
Says, whatever gloom 'neath the waters may lie, 
Their face wears the hue of a merciful sky. 



SELF-CONQUEST. 

OLORD, above myself I fain would rise, 
Would tread what Thou forbiddest 'neath my feet, 
What Thou despisest I would too despise, 

Thus made more pure Thy spotless gaze to meet. 

May I through prayer o'ercome that ingrain sin 
That clips the heavenward pinions of my soul, 

That holds aloof the crown that I would win, 
My every spring of motive doth control. 

When Nature feasts my vision with its charm, 
Beyond what human fancy may conceive, 

While sense discernment I would not disarm, 
Thy hand therein my spirit would perceive,. 



288 Miscellaneous. 

Lord, let me look below the outward life, 
And taste the joys of fellowship with Thee, 

That I may soar above its petty strife, 

And hence from sorrow multiplied be free. 

With Thy right hand, O mold me to Thy will, 
As doth the sculptor the resistful stone, 

Until Thy love my empty heart shall fill, 
And Thine shalt be its rulership alone. 



i8 95 . 

HEAR the note of parting time, 
The dying year rings out its chime. 
Down the vista masses go 
In a quick succession, 
Onward as the waters flow 
In a tide's progression ; 
Throngs of every age and grade, 
Talking, laughing, weeping, 
Full of schemes impulsive laid, 
Disappointment reaping ; 
Bold or tame, 
Mad with shame, 
Rushing in a giddy swirl, 
Driven as leaves in autumn's whirl. 
Hope is lost amid despair — 
E'en as bubbles burst in air. 



Miscellaneous. 289 

Like a plunge, and all is o'er, 
Like a cyclone with its roar, 
Into darkness myriads go, 
Dream of life cut short below ; 
Ceaseless coming and departing, 
Under fortune's scourges smarting, 
Friends pass out and we alone, 
Like the birds, their nestlings flown, 
Warm hearts in a frigid zone. 
Only the eternal man 
Lives beyond this fleeting span. 



COMPASSION. 

COMPASSION stirs my breast, 
My footstep will not rest, 
I fain would cross the sea, 
Lest pity censure me ; 
To northland I will go, 
Where reign the ice and snow, 
Where cannibal and beast 
On human victims feast ; 
The lofty mount will brave, 
In deserts seek my grave ; 
Will smile at rage or sneer, 
Uncurbed by threat or fear, 
Entreaty of a tear— 
And this to renovate, 



290 Miscellaneous. 

And to emancipate, 

That deep within may shine 

A radiance divine, 

That poverty may cease, 

And crime's red shame decrease, 

That none may life regret 

By gloomy doubt beset, 

That not an empty dream 

Its noble purpose seem ; 

Compassion I obey 

All potent in its sway, 

Because it gently flows, 

Above, to heal my woes. 



HOW FEW ARE LEFT. 

YES, few are the friends that illumine our way, 
And make us forget we are perishing clay, 
With voices that thrill like the nightingale's song, 
Their good deeds embalmed, while forgotten their wrong. 

Most wretched that being who knows not a friend, 
His worth to exalt and his fame to defend ; 
He seems like a tree of its emerald shorn, 
The present a blank and the future forlorn. 

O'er swift rolling years do our treasured ones float, 
Receding afar like a vanishing boat, 



Miscellaneous. 291 

While soon by the ravage of time are effaced 

The scenes that the light of their presence once graced. 

If souls are immortal, so friendship as well, 
Which sets at defiance mortality's spell, 
No doubt shall obscure and no blemish remain, 
When wrought into heaven's insoluble chain. 

If favored by chart and by compass it steer, 

The bark lost to sight may in port reappear, 

And loved ones now gone, through the pole star their guide, 

Are safe in the moorings where still waters glide. 



THE BEST PROTECTOR. 

TRUST the only Source of love, 
Showering blessings from above, 
Giving to each child of prayer 
Tokens of a special care. 

Stars that wheel their ceaseless flight 
Flash His goodness through the night. 
Every seed beneath the earth 
Tells where Mercy has its birth. 

Ships that plough the trackless main 
Move as He directs the vane. 
Lo, He marks the sparrow's fall, 
Listens to the raven's call 



292 Miscellaneous. 

Will He not thy sorrows feel 
When the scalding tear-drops steal ? 
While His face thou canst not see, 
Mortal, God is near to thee. 

Dost thou mourn thine infant's throe? 
Or wouldst heal a brother's woe ? 
And will He not grant relief 
In thy darkest hour of grief? 

E'en the wolf protects her young, 
With its pangs she too is stung, 
Will not our Great Heart defend 
All His offspring to the end? 



LONG ISLAND. 

OISLE of health, my heart thy praise is singing, 
While waves resound along thy lengthened 
shore, 
That morn and night within mine ear are ringing 
A monotone, for ages heard before. 

Long Island, Summer's choice retreat, 
Where varied charms unnumbered greet. 

Resort of angler, artist, and the hunter, 
Where horseless vehicle and cycle spin : 



Miscellaneous. 293 

Where many an acre spurns the line of Gunter, 
Enticing in athletic sports to win, 

Thy northern tide more peaceful flows, 
The Triton blast at southward blows. 

O camping ground for Gotham's jaded city! 

Its garden, horn of plenty, decked with hope! 
Accept indulgently the Muse's ditty, 
As on thy sands I read thy horoscope. 
Empurpled clouds that tint the west 
Reveal the Islands of the Blest. 



REVOCATION. 

I SIT not alone in the depth of my chamber, 
Invisible friends of the bygone are near, 
A father looks anxious, a mother looks gentle, 
And groups round the hearthstone again come to 
cheer. 

My teacher approaches with smile and with ferrule, 
And causes a shudder to creep through my frame, 

And schoolmates competing in mind or in muscle, 
Stir feelings of pride or it may be of shame. 

I summon companions in midnight seclusion 

When silence keeps watch over slumber profound, 

The banns of oblivion by memory surmounted, 

Some form breaks the gloom or I hear a sweet sound, 



294 



Miscellaneous. 



How happy are they who when aged and helpless, 
When few are the joys from the present to glean, 

Can make a bright morning illumine the evening, 
Transforming the leaves that are faded to green. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

OH, who would steal the sunlight from our way, 
And turn to gloomy night the cheerful day? 
Or who would close the optics of the mind, 
And make man's nobler part to learning blind? 

'T is wisdom brings us near the courts of heaven, 
Where knowledge is in all its fullness given ; 
Upon the earth " we know in part alone, 
But there we know as also we are known." 

If cravings of the body we would feed, 
Why not as well supply the mental need, 
Nor let starvation in the higher life 
Starvation in the lower make more rife? 

True education teaches how to govern self, 
Due place it gives to honor and to pelf ; 
It elevates the majesty of law, 
In each imposture it discerns the flaw. 

With pure engrossment in its walk sublime, 
Man contemplates with deeper horror, crime ; 



Miscellaneous. 

It teaches him that " life is more than meat," 
That thought is parent of a joy complete. 

And what has furnished us a model State, 
A pioneer for every Nation's fate? 
'T is freedom glowing from the sacred spire, 
And education lifting from the mire. 

To ignorance ne'er yield that boon of God, 
The road to learning built upon our sod ; 
If true it be that mind o'er matter rules, 
Ope wide the entrance to our public schools. 



A SAIL-BOAT. 

YON bark with snowy sail 
A beauteous useful thing, 
Is borne by favoring gale 
Like couriers on the wing. 

It mounts up toward the sky, 
Then sinks beneath the main, 

Like hope on pinion high 
Or when it soars in vain. 

With liquid gems the spray 

Its onward course makes bright, 

So cheered the just man's way 
Bedecked with fadeless light. 



2 95 



296 Miscellaneous. 

The rudder, willing guide, 

Directs from rock and shoal ; — 

At mercy of life's tide 

The conscience steers a soul. 

If dangerous she lean 

The rudder changes tack. 

If man to sin careen 

The conscience turns him back. 

When storms invade the deep 
How quick the sails are furled! 

We fold when troubles sweep 
The canvas of the world. 

What welcomes are prepared 
For yonder craft on shore, 

Intenser may be shared 

When souls are tossed no more. 



BID YOUR TROUBLES FLEE AWAY. 

BID your troubles flee away, 
Treat them like a rainy day ; 
Pleasure with your thoughts entwine 
Like about the wall the vine. 
Let your faith your hope sustain, 
Let your blessings banish pain. 



Miscellaneous. 297 

Gloomy night will quickly fly 
When the morning gilds the sky. 

All within probation's sphere 
Often feel misfortune near, 
Sometimes like a lightning flash 
Every happy dream 't will dash. 
Not a being but must mourn 
Ere it reach the finite bourn. 
Gloomy night will quickly fly 
When the morning gilds the sky. 

Mortals toil for daily bread, 
Blight and famine wide are spread. 
Who can read to-morrow's page? 
Who reverse the steps of age? 
Who can guarantee a friend? 
Who from illness can defend? 
Who can at a distance keep 
Shadows of a final sleep? 
Gloomy night will quickly fly 
When the morning gilds the sky. 

They endowed with wealth untold, 
Kings who can a nation mold, 
Those with beauty, brilliant fame, 
Fate impartial treats the same. 
They must weep with men that toil 
In the workshop, on the soil. 



298 Miscellaneous. 

Gloomy night will quickly fly 
When the morning gilds the sky. 

Let not trouble, shared by all, 
Joy, or purpose brave, enthrall 
They who are with wisdom fraught, 
Through it see some lesson taught, 
Aimed perchance at secret sin 
Soiling life without, within. 
Gloomy night will quickly fly 
When the morning gilds the sky. 



LONG AGO. 

I REM EMBER the farm of the years long ago, 
Emblazoned in red or as white as the snow, 
The barn overtopping the mansion in size, 
The orchard, the garden, the pumpkin for pies. 

The feathered broods' jargon, the lowing of kine, 
The saw-mill's rude sound, and the moaning of pine 
That came to the ear amid blossoming fields, 
Commingled with notes that the wood-robin yields. 

The flame that aspired the chimney to cheer, 
The spectacles, arm-chair, and old Bible near, 
The tea-kettle's song to the cat and the dog, 
The little hands anxious to pile a fresh log. 



Miscellaneous. 299 

The thud of the churn and the whirr of the wheel, 
The worn fingers lively with yarn and with steel, 
The wild bloom just gathered from nature's free soil, 
The implements sharpened for health-giving toil. 

I remember the hayricks like tents on the plain, 
The slippery floor where they threshed out the grain, 
The cider inviting that oozed from the press, 
The swain with the maiden in calico dress. 

The hard hands that served with the tenderest care 
From hearts that were warmed by the nurture of prayer, 
The peace and the innocent joy that would flow, 
I recall in the old farm of years long ago. 



CONSCIENCE. 

WITHIN the breast, 
Like waves' unrest P 
A guardian angel dwells, 
When scarce we know 
Which way to go, 
The surest one it tells. 

It brings each ghost 
Of sin's great host 
That chides the guilty past, 
Nor stops until 



300 Miscellaneous. 

It stirs the will 
And binds a purpose fast. 

Our future sky 

If far or nigh 
Foreseeing it unfolds, 

Dependent how 

Our conduct now 
Which his clear lens unfolds. 

Let all rejoice 

'T is God's still voice 

That points the heavenly way. 
It guides to peace 
Without surcease 

Till shines the perfect day. 



HYMN TO SERVICE. 

THE morning stars together sung, 
With music's untold power, 
An anthem that has sweetly rung 
To cheer the toilsome hour. 

The cooling zephyr wafts the strain 

Within its gentle round, 
The waves rehearse it o'er the main 

While echoing shores resound. 



Miscellaneous. 301 

The bird that charms the listening dell, 

The rainbow on the sky, 
The bubbling water in the well 

Delight to man imply. 

Unendingly the notes are heard 

Where reigns celestial joy 
From those who ready at the word 

Their willing ranks deploy. 

And service took its highest crown 

From One who stooped to earth. 
The pedigree of its renown 

Is traced from Jesus' birth. 



ON TURNER'S "ANCIENT CARTHAGE!" 

THE doom of Carthage Rome pronounced, 
And she who held imperial sway 
To Scipio Africanus bowed. 
It took long years her power to crush, 
Yet finally a victim she became 
To noble and ignoble foes. 
The Punic wars and Hannibal 
Were all in vain to rescue her. 
And not a trace remains to show 
The glory of a brilliant past. 
The artist's dream repeoples her, 



302 



Miscellaneous. 

And through the haze of time appear 

Her pinnacles and buttresses 

'Mid palaces and fanes that show 

The wealth and glories of the hour, 

A mystic silence hangs o'er all. 

Her fiery god resplendent rules 

The glittering sky and shimmering stream ; 

Conceptions of a mind engrossed 

Are flung abroad in showers of gold, 

Subdued by brown and green and blue ; 

A Lybian gloom cannot repress 

The bright oasis that pervades ; 

Aladdin's lamp seems near ; 

A commerce wide its seal has set ; 

A prowess poised on tireless wing 

Looks down disdainfully on sloth ; 

An oracle, the city speaks ; 

It seems to say : No age can claim 

The flights of fancy or of thought ; 

It points us to the lava poured 

By their volcanic energy, 

Encrusting centuries to come ; 

Suggestion soars about the space 

Where mortals hold their transient court 

And fashion toys to be o'erthrown. 

Devotion travels far beyond 

The noblest masterpiece of art 

To where the Lord of Nature molds, 

And where He sits enthroned in light, 



Miscella?ieous. 303 

'Mid towers of beauty and of strength, 
These hidden in the deepest depths 
And more enduring than the sun,— 
Inwrought with gems to us unknown, 
Surpassing e'en a Turner's glow. 



THE REBUFF. 

A RUDE rebuff is like the shock that wakes from 
slumber drowsy health, 
A giddy steep that one must climb, to reach the goal of 

fame or wealth. 
'T is like the waves that toss the ship before she gains the 

looked-for port ; 
A wall or ditch the hunter leaps to grasp the prize that 

crowns his sport. 
'T is like the thunder and the glare that drive a pestilence 

away, 
The sunless gloom of night that shows the brilliant 

groups concealed by day. 
'T is like the finger of disease that points the spot where 

danger lies, 
The brazen trump of goary war that drives the clouds 

from freedom's skies. 

Though rough the spirit that may wound, and anger 
bristle in the breast, 



304 Miscellaneous. 

O'erlook the taunt, the frown, the sneer ; the Christian 
rule forever best. 

For insult cannot truth defame, 
And patient silence wins the game, 
While he who calls the opponent tame 
Will at the last be brought to shame. 



THE HOBOKEN TRAGEDY. 

SOULS hasting to eternity, 
How speedily they hurry by! 
More rapid than the hungry flame, 

Or sparks that shoot athwart the sky. 
Ah! treacherous burning mystery, 
Scarce found on page of history. 

Unparalleled such frightful shock, 
Amid a city's thoughtless tread, 

More fearful than an avalanche, 

When every thought of harm is dead. 

What next shall burst from fire and flood, 

Or other of disaster's brood! 

The artist's primal coloring, 

Looks meaningless— confusion all, 

But soon a purpose will emerge, 
Which time will waken at His call. 



Miscella?ieous. 

Although we may not thus opine, 
Within this chaos dwells design. 

Some happy dreams adorn life's way, 
That rude misfortune turns to air, 

While every hope upreared thereon 
Conceals the ashes of despair. 

Not thus with Him who builds on high, 

He little recks where clouds may fly. 



THE LIVING DEATH. 

PERVERTED is our present lot 
By some derisive cankerous spot, 
Dolorous often is its day 
Designed alone for undimmed ray. 

How strange mortality is found 
Where every faculty is sound, 
We see in life— to all intents — 
A mummy clothed in cerements. 

Enshrouded is immortal mind 
That truth remote can probe and bind, 
Affection's pure and gentle beam 
Behind a churlish cloud would seem. 

A sepulchre of sloth, of dice, 

Of maddening drink or untold vice, 



305 



306 . Miscellaneous. 

Entombs for aye the nobler man 
While blotted out primordial plan. 

Let resolution galvanize 

Where Lethe's potions narcotize, 

Like Perseus, brave each Gorgon's throne 

Reform transmuting into stone. 



'Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum." — Virgil. 

THE HORSE SHALL NOT GO. 

THE horse seems obsolescent, 
Mechanic forces sway, 
The bicycle, the trolley 
And auto rule the day. 

At whistle of the engine 

And some cyclopean might, 

A creature clothed in beauty 
We banish from our sight. 

The potent lightning stooping 
To do man's sovereign will, 

All rival locomotion 
Now menaces to kill. 

But shall this living splendor, 
A pride of nature's mold, 



Miscellaneous. 307 

Neglected by its master, 
For uses vile be sold? 

Believe it not ye croakers 

Who fear time's headlong pace, 

The lord of turf and tourney 
Has not yet run his race. 

Arenas may be opening 

With sands untrod before ; 
Whereon with nostril widening 

His eye will flash the more. 

The cycle fiend bent over, 

Like Joko in the ring, 
May startle the pedestrian 

With ceaseless ting-a-ling. 

The trolley and the auto 

New foes to human life- 
May through the greed of avarice 

Make tardiness less rife. 

But horse that feels the rider— 

By rider felt as well — 
With saddle or road coaching 

Will never lose his spell. 

So near the heart abiding 
This prancing, glossy pet— 



308 Miscellaneous. 

The darling of our sportive hours 
We can't surrender yet. 

Lift up thy head then, charger, 
And neigh and paw the earth, 

Thou classic type of motion 
Uphold thy claim of birth. 



"LAW." 

I FORMED out of chaos this wonderful plan, 
Established a rule for direction of Man, 
Have kept in their station 
Each work of creation, 
Injustice restrained by an adamant ban. 

Though Nature may often rebel at my code, 

Necessity points to the wayward my road, 

As always the surest 

And also the purest, 

That leads where Divinity makes HIS abode. 

To science I furnish its marvelous spell, 

And lighten the world from the depths of its cell, 

Make all those awaken 

By knowledge forsaken, 

And show where the useful and beautiful dwell. 



Miscellaneous. 309 

I frown in the tempest, in sunshine I smile, 

I shape every cloudlet in picturesque style, 

Sweet mercy I season, 

With savory reason, 

My mission from ruin the world to beguile. 



MY FAITH. 

WHAT shall charm the dull routine 
With an aspiration keen 
Till no haze the summit screen? 
Uplifting faith. 

What shall calm a voice within, 
Warning me of secret sin, 
Favor gone again to win? 
A childhood faith. 

What shall give the soul its food, 
What shall change each ill to good, 
Bid the rainbow arch the flood? 
Undoubting faith. 

When with anguish thrills my frame, 
Or when slander wounds my name, 
What shall soothe and banish shame? 
Benignant faith. 



3io 



Miscellaneous. 

If success refuse to smile 
And grim want impend the while, 
What will from despair beguile? 
Unflinching faith. 

When I reach earth's nevermore, 
What shall lift the veil before 
Hiding the eternal shore? 
Triumphant faith. 



VISIONS OF THE NEW YEAR. 

TWO opposing visions high 
Pass before my mental eye ; 
One, oppressive to behold, 
One, a priceless field of gold ; 
One betrays telluric girth, 
Naught the other seems of earth ; 
One speaks hopes that live a day, 
Sentient beauty formed of clay, 
Sunshine baffled by a shroud, 
Graves that withering blossoms crowd, 
Vessels lost upon the main, 
Lurid streaks athwart the plain ; 
Lo, an infant like the vine, 
Grows about the parent heart, 
But its tendrils soon untwine, 
Stricken by the fatal dart ; 



Miscellaneous. 

Many a plan for coming years 
Blotted by a mother's tears. 

Such the vision of the past ; 
Winds uncertain at the mast ; 
Fortune, with her spinning wheel, 
Ready human bliss to steal. 

Rapture crowns the opposing sight, 
Ushered by a holy light ; 
Dulcet numbers heard the while, 
Floating down a mystic aisle ; 
Love to joy its power discloses, 
As through being it reposes, 
Planted like Gibraltar's rock, 
Which no scheme of hate can mock ; 
Frost can ne'er a verdure kill, 
Nourished by creative will ; 
Friend from friend is never parted, 
Leaving mourners broken-hearted ; 
Those while here the most endearing, 
In more radiant charms appearing ; 
Parent, children, sister, brother, 
Re-embracing one another, 
In a home where discontent 
Ne'er to restlessness gives vent. 

As decay precedes the flower, 
So mortality this dower; 



3" 



312 



Miscellaneous, 

Yet can faith surmount all fear, 
Making happy each New Year. 



MPRESSION AND EXPRESSION. 

THE sun upon each object 
Its glorious beauty writes ; 
The sky, the grass, the flowers 
With his great soul he lights. 

So character prints tokens 
Upon the outward man ; 

While on its every feature 
The likeness you may scan. 

And thus the Sun Eternal 
Doth make his face to shine, 

Adorning each true follower 
With lineaments divine. 



GEMS FROM THE AFGHAN POETS. 

ABDUR RAHMAN, A. D. l66o. 

INSENSATE mortals force from me a smile, 
That earth, from fear of death, should so beguile. 
Although before their face their children die, 
With zeal do they their occupations ply. 



Miscellaneous. 3 1 3 

Although their footsteps trample on the dead, 
Yet in the paths of sin they constant tread. 

No warning from the living can impress! 
But voices from the grave must souls address. 

In swaddling clothes the old man takes his son, 
Predicting fame ere yet his race has run. 

A date stone man will plant and watch each day, 
In hopes his care, will shade and fruit repay. 

He thinks that every crop the harvest yields 
Presages future crops within the fields. 

Although of seed a handful may be sown, 
His cravings are an ass load shall be grown. 

A halter doth he make for calves unborn 
And prates of swarming bees to-morrow morn. 

Should Rahman claim the office to advise? 
The only true Director Heaven supplies. 

No stream that 's past the sluice flows back again, 
And to recall the hours misspent were vain. 

To one still in the tomb all time has fled ; 
No lamentation can revive the dead. 

False hopes have driven many to despair ; 
Against time's cheating promises beware. 



3H 



Miscellaneous. 



When at thy funeral wailing women sing, 
Will not to thee their dirges useless ring? 

To reach the heights of fame what hast thou done? 
'T will not be asked: "Whose grandson?" or "Whose 
son?" 

The bride must be in her own person fair : 
For grandma's or for mother's looks who care? 

Both ignorant and undiscerning he 
Who drains life's cup to inebriety. 

Some medicine for every ill is known, 

But none where love of earth erects its throne. 

Whatever on thy head thou mayest wear, 
Thy turban is a mighty load of care. 



AN INCIDENT AT HOTEL ST. GEORGE, 
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. 



w 



HILE borne by the iron steed gently I ride, 
As over a smooth lake the wild fowl doth glide. 
A hostelrie's guests to my fancy are brought 
On memory's tablet indelibly wrought. 

A much revered friend who had oft charmed the hour, 
With full manly voice that time's threats could not cower, 
Awakened my slumbering muse from its shell 
To join in o'ercoming a night's drowsy spell. 



Miscellaneous. 3 1 5 

Some guests unattuned to the strains of the bard, 
Were lured by the notes of the shuffling card, 
While others like flocks that unite on the wing, 
Assembled to hear what the poet might sing. 

He sung of the prodigal wandering afar, 
As doth from its orbit a recreant star ; 
Then sung he of sentiments differing in hue, 
That poesy's garden in former years grew. 

Expressions of kindness encouraged the verse 
Of the singer persuasion drew forth to rehearse ; 
Hence he felt if a prodigal chanced within reach, 
A shot unsuspected a lorn soul might reach. 

And why should not vanity tempt an earth soul 
When Baltimore bells with some others did roll 
Sweet peals of encomium where man's verdict chimed — 
At numbers the oracle sang, also rhymed! 

Not soon will oblivion erase the St. George, 

An inn where both Christian and worldling doth gorge, 

For pastry ambrosial slays every intent 

Of denial, and haunts one where'er he is bent. 

Fair city so famed 'mid Floridian bowers, 

St. Augustine pride of the home-land of flowers, 

Sure thou and that group and that evening, shall glow 

In my life's wintry day like the ivy 'mid snow. 



316 Miscellaneous. 



GOLD. 



WE hail these most lustrous of metals, 
A lantern to cheer 'neath the earth, 
Resounding in Israel's shekels, 
Creation enfolding thy birth. 

The sceptre of values long wielding, 
Protected like truth on her seat, 

While ductile and malleable — yielding, 
Thy sovereignty still do we greet. 

Corrosion's most cunning endeavor 

Is foiled when thy beauty 't would stain, 

A sun, thou art changeable never, 
Resplendent, through time to remain. 

Whene'er with the base intermingling, 

The lowest is sure to arise, 
So vicious when virtuous singling 

As comrades, are nearer the skies. 

When Rome was the mistress of nations 
And peace smiled on distaff and wold, 

When Love wakened new meditations 
The era was called— "Age of Gold." 



Miscellaneous. 317 

In crown or in signet through ermine, 

Ennobling letters and art, 
Whatever the law may determine, 

Thy ring will give tone to the mart. 



MOTIVE. 

COLD was the night, 
And the wind whistled loudly. 
Snow hid all warmth 

And the ice king glared proudly, 
Yet Jamie was bent on a mission before him, 
From every dissuasion of comfort it bore him. 

Long was the way 

And the white crest unruffled, 
Dangers ahead 

Gave him warning unmuffled, 
Yet Jamie went forth in a mood that was pleasant, 
Hopes' wing like the pinion of sky-lark or pheasant. 

Steep an ascent, 

But his footsteps ne'er slacken ; 
Motive arose 

Over flood, height, or bracken. 
And Jamie went forth from his object ne'er turning, 
The embers within him unceasingly burning. 



3 1 8 Miscellaneous. 

Much he sought ease, 

And his instinct obeying, 
On such a night 

'Gainst his plan 't was inveighing; 
But love stirred his soul toward a cot near a mountain, 
And zeal stirred his blood that pulsed on like a fountain. 

Magnet was his 

That doth move earth and heaven, 
Sluggishness flows 

From its ebb through this leaven, 
The steed that ne'er stirs at the angry word spoken, 
Obeys bit and spur at affection's mild token. 



MEMORY. 

THE ROSE. 

SOME angel surely fans the rose, 
Invoking summer dreams, she sits 
In matchless bloom ; 
A blessing free to all outflows, 
An opiate her soul emits, 
To solace doom. 

Nay, more, when borne on traffic's wave, 
For wealth's luxurious boudoir crushed, 
By art distilled ; 
Such odorous joys she never gave, 



Miscellaneous. 3 1 9 

When on her regal couch she blushed, 
And morn was filled. 

The beauty of a noble life 

A fragrance like the rose exhales 
To charm the sense ; 
While with its deeds its day is rife, 
In memory it never fails, 
But grows intense. 



A NATIONAL HYMN. 

OH, Muse, rejoice for liberty ! 
And let the song inspire 
The faintest spark that warms the soul 
To burn with heavenly fire. 

Chorus. 
Wave high, wave high, Columbia, 

The emblem of the free ! 
Yea, let it float o'er every dome, 

And ride on every sea. 

Come, sing of blessings wisdom wrought, 

In patriotic blood ; 
Of Pilots, who could safely steer 

Through party's angry flood. 

Sing loud of education's door, 
Swung wide to all the same— 



320 



Miscellaneous. 

The open path, where toil can reach 
The heights of wealth or fame. 

Yet, sing not of an altar where 

Reluctant knees must bow ; 
But of a broad immunity 

To those who humbly vow. 

Unfold our treasures 'neath the earth, 

Or on its surface born ; 
The sweep of canyon, lake, and stream, 

Where flowers outshine the morn. 

Proclaim the invitation given 

To greatest and the least— 
If true to us, come live with us, 

And share our ample feast. 

God shield the great republic with 

Its Constitution blessed ; 
The starry-bannered nation, and 

The triumph of the West. 

A SKILFUL HARPIST. 

WHENE 'ER you touch those strings 
To ope your tuneful mind 
Then hark how music flings 
A story to the wind. 
It leads us to old Homer's epic lay 
Demodicus and folk-lore of his day. 



Miscellaneous. 3 2 1 

It whispers love's refrain 

Whose languishment it speeds, 

Invokes romantic thought 

Of Ireland, Scotia, Wales, 

With echoes from Killarney fraught 

And legendary tales : 

Of Alfred good and great it sings, 

Known "lord of harp and spear," 

While earliest Saxon on its wings 

Makes Froissart's Chronicles appear : 

It summons visions that arose 

In David's fertile brain 

When Saul obeyed the harp's behest 

That hushed the demon in his breast : 

It brings forth Zion to our view 

With hope of balm for pain ; 

Recalls the weeping Israelite 

Who hung upon the tree 

His harp, when he no more could sing 

In lone captivity. 

The song of Moses and the Lamb 

The harp's clear tones reveal 

And humble chords attuned below 

A seraph touch conceal. 

O minstrel may a harp be thine 

Of pure celestial gold 

Whose melody to mortal ears 

Shall be a thing untold. 



322 Miscella?ieous. 



JUDGE NOT. 

TO censure a brother who erred 
Was once from a preacher desired, 
Who answered that faults of his own 
His utmost attention required. 

'T is said every one has a sin 

Which all of his life doth beset him, 

Who oftener others would chide, 

Provided that sin would but let him. 

If each will examine his heart, 

Not long ere this fact he '11 discern there 
Which, like a sore cancerous spot, 

Will never on earth cease to burn there. 

Alas, human nature is weak, 

Our vows when the strongest not keeping, 
And while we may think it awake 

We shall find that our conscience is sleeping- 
No mortal the purest may judge 

His fellows— nor angel from Heaven, 
Yet some will as censors presume 

While swollen with secular leaven. 



Miscellaneous. 323 

It behooves that we first look within 

Before we speak ill of another, 
We then shall more readily screen 

Than blacken the fame of a brother. 



AN OLD MAN'S APOSTROPHE TO DEATH. 

OH, thou who dost herald an edict divine, 
Ne'er let my infirmity hopeless repine, 
Because thou wouldst summon my soul to the shade 
Where wisdom and virtue and friendship pervade. 

'T were well thou dost order a halt to decay 
That marches toward ills which we know not to-day, 
For freshness must droop like a withering flower 
Awaiting the chance of each varying hour. 

A messenger thou of the spirit's repose 
From turmoil, a torrent that endlessly flows 
Through effort to reach some evanishing goal 
Outwearing all faculties 'neath its control. 

Oh, welcome thou comforter telling of sleep 
Apart from the crowd where the willow doth weep, 
Where slander and envy and care are forgot 
And true loving mourners will hallow the spot. 

Thou liftest the veil from reality's home, 
No more in ideals our fancies to roam, 



324 Miscellaneous. 

An Ultima Thule where hearts can find rest, 
Like eaglets aloft in a cliff-guarded nest. 

Ah, kindly thou callest to lie where He lay 

Who gave to the sepulchre brightness of day, 

Who made it the portal of heavenly joy, 

Where moth and where rust ne'er corrupt nor destroy. 



CONSOLATION. 

OH ! weep not for those who are borne to the grave, 
As if they had parted forever ; 
The thread of our being Omnipotence gave, 
King Time with his scythe cannot sever. 

The faith of a Christian sees pictures of love 

Afar off, unfadingly beaming, 
Where those whom we mourn may, unceasing, above 

Reap pleasures not less than their seeming. 

No fear and no danger can enter that home, 

With legions triumphant surrounding ; 
No sin and no sorrow the soul can o'ercome 

Where anthems of joy are resounding. 

Our cherished ones, gone from this world to their rest, 
Make clear the true pathway to follow, 

In hope that with them we may also be blest, 
Aloof from the fleeting and hollow. 



Miscellaneous. 325 

They teach us our mercies the better to prize, 
Though rending our heartstrings when taken ; 

And whatever treasures be snatched from our eyes, 
To feel we shall not be forsaken. 

Pray, why did Christ die, unless we, too, might live 

With Him through the ages eternal? 
And why did He rise but to us He might give 

Reunion in regions supernal? 

There are visions before us the tongue cannot tell ; 

There are dreams for the seraphs now hidden ; 
But we know that our Lord, and our Saviour as well, 

Expectation has nowhere forbidden. 

What converse will brighten the spirits now fled, 
With mind by sense-mazes unclouded! 

The husband and wife may still closer be wed — 
By doubt or suspicion unshrouded. 

Surpassing all other is love's sacred tie ; 

Hard toil and coarse fare it will soften ; 
Love's chain circles those reunited on high 

In holy communion so often. 

How favored are they in the Lord who have died, 

From care and from labor reposing! 
Their works going after, will always abide ; 

How peaceful their journey when closing! 



326 Miscellaneous. 

A mortal has nothing one justly can claim; 

Possession, so called, is but loaning ; 
Her own was the little one merely in name 

For whom that pale mother is moaning. 

Hereafter again she shall see its sweet face, 
With a smile like the bloom of the morning 

Her darling illumined with a mystical grace, 
And heavenly beauty adorning. 

The lamb that she fondled had fallen asleep ; 

The tomb's icy clasp could not hold it ; 
Transfigured in glory the Shepherd will keep, 

And his sheltering arms will enfold it. 

Bereaved one, the idol you laid on the bier, 
Not lost, was but summoned before you ; 

Then stifle the sigh nor shed the vain tear— 
A new angel now watches o'er you. 



THERE AND HERE. 

THY home I now recall, Gerold, 
So choice in Memory's store, 
Its shaded walk, its flowery porch, 
And Zip that kept the door. 

I hear the sawmill's teeth gnawing 
Despite its knotty food, 



Miscellaneous. 327 

The plowman's whistle, milkmaid's song, 
Sweet echoes from the wood. 

I view the sheaves, the fruits mottled, 

Pictorial on the plain, 
The hen, the rooster, and the axe 

Send back their notes again. 

Thy simple, generous board cheering, 

Invites me to partake, 
When cooks did not disguise the gist 

Of Nature's faultless make. 

The barn-yard's chorus swells, driving 

The City's din afar, 
Where stately Fashion's iron code 

No comfort can debar. 

Within another home, Gerold, 

Where luxuries abound, 
I see thee, comrade of my youth, 

With time-bleached honors crownecL 

Obedient to thy nod, lacqueys 

Upstart to meet thy will, 
And Oriental rarities 

The teeming wonder fill. 

And friends, or those so called, fawning, 
By gold and silver made, 



328 Miscellaneous. 

With flattery ever at command, 
Draw near, — a full brigade. 

Now, tell me from thy heart, Ceroid, 
Where most has joy been thine, 

Beneath that roof-tree where we played, 
Or 'midst these trappings fine ? 



TONGUE AND EYES. 

,/r I A IS said in man a single tongue was placed, 

JL By which he may be honored or disgraced. 
Whereas in proof of Vision's prior right 
An organ duplicate was given for sight, 
As well as ears to keep the judgment right. 

Too oft the tongue before the vision used, 
Omnific Art's intention is confused ; 
This agile meddler, knowledge left behind, 
Will prate of facts to which 't is wholly blind, 
Condemn or praise according to its will, 
For blessing formed, it scatters grievous ill. 
Denounced by James as set on'fire of hell, 
It rings out discord like a broken bell. 

Before we know we should not deign to speak, 
But Silence on the tongue should vengeance wreak, 



Miscellaneous. 329 

Let such atonement pay for mischief wrought 
Where Fluency usurped the role of Thought. 
Let charity conceal the doubtful part, 
Where ignorance would hurl a poisoned dart. 



ASPIRATION. 

WHOE'ER would tempt the giddy heights 
of fame 
Or make the cheating phantom wealth his aim 
Is led to fawn, 
His soul to pawn. 
Must often bow to fools and knaves. 
Aye, e'en become their abject slaves. 

The prize he seeks would hardly seem to pay 
When such the toll exacted on his way. 

A glorious few 

To manhood true 
Prefer to rise on worth alone, 
And would not stoop to gain a throne. 



MR. NOBODY. 

I CANNOT dance, I cannot sing, 
I do not make grave senates ring, 
I am not famous at the bar, 
From war cannot display one scar, 



33 o Miscellaneous. 

Was never introduced at courts, 

And never head of lists at sports, 

Am not invited out to dine, 

I cannot tell a brand of wine, 

The somebodies I do not know, 

The press my movements does not show, 

I never am called swell or snobby, 

In dress or manners far from nobby, 

And like a little titmouse walk 

Attentive while the others talk ; 

I have not wealth nor fame nor style, 

Am jostled by the crowd the while, 

And much more frequently am snubbed 

Than with earth's glittering honors dubbed. 

I cannot call a coach and pair 

When I may wish to take the air ; 

Within the trolley do I ride 

Or on the bicycle astride. 

Belonging to the multitude, 

I am not oft for favors sued, 

But few of me take any note 

Unless they wish to seek my vote, 

Or use me in some other way 

To prop a piece of pompous clay. 

And yet I 'm happy, on the whole, 

If I can comfort one poor soul. 



Miscellaneous. 331 



DEFENCE. 

^T^HE Knight in harness fully clad, 
X Secure, defies 

Each shaft that flies ; — 
Yet weaponless could not defend 
When blows are leveled at a friend. 

The man in virtue mailed, how sad! 
Though void of harm, 
From Rumor's arm, 
Unless he hurled a mental spear 
A word might crush a comrade dear. 



CHIMES. 

THE sacred chimes 
That scatter rhymes 
On vibratory air — 
From distance known 
Their cheerful tone 
Invites to praise and prayer. 
When heard in mart 
They touch the heart 



33 2 



Miscellaneous. 

By some sweet angel song, 

Though oft they go 

As streamlets flow 
Or smiles that grace the throng. 
Where furrows creep 
And wronged ones weep, 
Where sorrow chides a fault, 

'Mid speechless gloom, 

In death's chill room, 
The lingering strains exalt. 
Ring, music blest, 
'Mid earth's unrest 
Evoking hidden light; 

Let every peal 

Some wounded heal — 
Aurora chasing night. 



DARKNESS THAT CAN BE FELT. 

A RAVEN flies above us, 
It dims the beam of day ; 
'T is not a mountain vapor, 
The shadow of a fray. 

It mocks the pride of laundry, 
The lily white, the rose ; 

Plays havoc with the toilet 
That beauty would disclose. 



Miscellaneous. 333 

An insult flings at marble 

That cannot wash its face, 
The sloven gives a booming, 

Defending his disgrace. 

Thou shameless, darkling demon, 

Thou foe to dainty art, ' 
Thou fume disgorged from Tartarus, 

Pray, when wilt thou depart? 

'T is said who first such nuisance 

On thrifty Scotia sprung 
Was by indignant justice 

Without a jury hung. 

Boast not, thou smutty despot— 

The electric chair thy doom, 
When lightning chained shall warm us, 

And drive the wheel and loom. 



THE DISTANT BELLS. 

YE distant bells, ye murmuring bells, 
Whose tone like plaintive ocean swells, 
Along its rugged path ye steal 
The throbbing ills of life to heal ; 
Reality forsakes control 
And Fancy's dream enweaves the soul. 



334 



Miscellaneous. 

Ye bring me to an earlier day 
To where my childhood used to play ; 
Ye summon voices long since hushed 
From those whom grief had never crushed ; 
Ye whisper of some " might have been " 
That vanished in the unforeseen. 

Perhaps ye say that two are one 
Or that some mortal race is run 
Or call from heedlessness to prayer 
Apart from worldliness or care ; 
The story that your message tells 
'T were vain to speak, ye distant bells. 

I know, at least, that 'mid the swirl, 

The onslaught fierce, the lips that curl, 

The fate uncertain brooding o'er 

The hearts that wither at the core, 

Like morn that opes night's gloom-shut cells, 

Ye wake my life, ye distant bells. 



I CANNOT AND I CAN! 

I CANNOT see why time should fly 
And vanish like the clouds on high, 
While tasks like Babel's half-built tower 
Deride the workman's short-lived power. 



Miscellaneous. 335 

I cannot see why fortunes change 

Abruptly like the winds that range, 

Why friends we loved to look upon 

Like flowers will droop, like flowers are gone. 

I cannot see why pestilence 
And war should take so many hence, 
Why few are rich and most are poor 
And some e'en beg from door to door. 

I cannot see why withering age 
Should dash the glow of youth's fair page ; 
Through ills allowed, in such strange ways, 
My human vision cannot gaze. 

The scene is changed and " Cannot " leaves, 
The downcast soul no longer grieves, 
Vile "Cannot" seeks its native realms 
While " Can " with hopeful joy o'erwhelms. 

A form appears with pinions white 
To chase these shadows of the night. 
It comes at bidding of a prayer, 
With voice of sweetness fills the air. 

Tells Faith the Parent leads his child 
O'er rocky steep, through tangled wild, 
Where " Can " will show what all things mean, 
And " Cannot " ne'er is heard nor seen. 



336 Miscellaneotts. 



WIT AND REASON. 

WIT is like the gorgeous cloud when painted by the 
golden West, 
That, soon involved in coming shade, reposes on the 

evening 's breast ; 
Reason, like the liquid mass that hides from view the 

brilliant day! 
Which fructifies the panting earth and bids the drought 
no longer stay. 

Wit is like the sparkling foam that rises to the goblets 

brim 
But soon, expiring on the lip, is transient as a passing 

whim ; 
Reason, like the beverage staid, that lies within the depth 

below, 
That gives nutrition, strength and force, the body 

whence the beadings flow. 

Wit is like the lightning's glare, a moment seen, and 

then 't is gone, 
That mocks the traveler on his road, more dense the 

darkness when 't is flown ; 
Reason, like the constant Sun, that moves within his 

daily round, 
Which guides each footstep on its way, the path pursued 

as well as found. 



Miscellaneous. 337 

Wit is like profession loud, that seems an offspring of 

the heart 
Whose birth, no deeper than the lip, sincerity, can claim 

no part : 
Reason, like the gentle tone, the fervent wish, the hidden 

tear, 
That, speaking only what it feels, profession will in act 

appear. 



GREATER NEW YORK. 

DEDICATED TO HON. ANDREW H. GREEN. 

NO more between two cities sweeps the tide, 
No more do waters civic hearts divide, 
But as the stream with bay and ocean blends, 
Those, rivals once, in heart and mind are friends. 

Both Richmond and Long Island loudly claim, 
With Bronx, old Gotham's widely cherished name, 
And like a belt with costly jewels set 
In circle golden, this rare group has met. 

United may the cluster ever stand, 

A constellation like our fatherland, 

A model for all other cities grown,— 

That tower in pride, begirt by freedom's zone. 



338 Miscellaneous. 

May virtue with expansion keep true pace, 
Lest bulk should prove not glory, but disgrace ; 
Far better Athens, with its narrow wall, 
Than Rome, colossal, with its crime and fall. 



ON HEARING HANDEL'S ORATORIO OF 
-THE MESSIAH." 

WHAT potent spell salutes the sense 
With music's matchless eloquence? 
I shut mine eyes amid the crowd, 
All else is mute, my spirit bowed. 
A bird now sings, 
The brooklet purls, 
A flag unfurls, 
A sweet bell rings. 
Hark, fluttering wings! 
Waves beat the shore, 
And oceans roar. 
A mermaid strain 
Enchants the main ; 
The music of the forest blends, 
Then eventide the chorus ends. 

The moon is bright, 
Its gentle light 
Subdues the height. 



Miscellaneous. 339 

Its grace we read 
On pensive mead. 
All nature lost in dreamy rest, 
The scene is consecrate and blest. 
But now a flash, 
And thunders roll : 

Volcanic throes 
Alarm repose— 
And now amain 
The Cyclops' reign. 
The echoing of the anvil hear, 
To end 'mid dire confusion near. 
Lo! Hallelujah shouts on high 
And Belial's serried hosts defy. 

One feels within, the Lord prevails 
O'er sin and misery it entails, 
While ambient discord man assails, 
Amid the din 
Sweet mercies win, 
And Love Supreme 
Becomes the theme. 
Reechoing strains go up to Heaven— 
" A Child is born, 
A Son is given." 
Pictorial thus appeared the hour 
Pervaded by an Orphean power, 
That made the moving trees around 
Responsive to its wondrous sound. 



34-o Miscellaneous. 

Meanwhile within each number heard 
Was Inspiration's Glorious Word. 

A coal that from the altar came, 
Enkindled this harmonious flame, 
And hence a Handel's lyre shall reach 
Unnumbered ages, and shall preach ; 
Shall wake, shall soothe to Christian thought- 
An heirloom with the soul inwrought. 
'T will live though earth shall pass away, 
'T will live upon the Judgment Day. 



THE REAPER'S SONG. 

THE merry reaper's song 
Proclaims the year's ripe fruit, 
It echoes loud and long 

While other sounds are mute ; 
Reminds of winter's store 
And flowers that bloom no more. 

It tells of fallen leaves 

Mosaic on the ground, 
Rejoicing at the sheaves 

With which the fields abound, 
The mast that bursts its shell, 
That squirrels know full well. 



Miscellaneous. 341 

It opes the barn prepared 

And shows the flail in hand, 
The pommelled floor all bared 

Where grain leaps forth like sand : 
Makes insects drone their note, 
The bird contract his throat. 

Points out the pendant pear, 

The apple, grape, and peach, 
So luscious and so fair 

Their flavor all would reach ; 
The song the reapers sing, 
Is golden summer's wing. 



MISSIONARY HYMN. 

SING, Redeeming Love, 
In reechoing strain, 
Let it mount above, 
Let it sweep the main, 
Till each wave-girt isle 
Wreathe a grateful smile. 

Let no heathen shore 

Groan 'neath Dagon might, - 
Ope the Gospel door, 

Shed abroad its light, 



342 



Miscellaneous. 

Let a Sampson arm 
' Smite Satanic harm. 

Soldiers of the Cross, 

Warring against sin, 
Counting gain but loss, 
Pastures green to win, 
Never basely yield 
On the Mission field. 

Brave the burning sand, 
Brave the frozen pole, 
Stretch forth each right hand, 
Lifting up the soul, 
Think of Him so tried, 
Scorned and crucified. 

Ye who bear His name, 
Of His joys partake, 
Crimson be your shame, 
If for His dear sake 
Ye refuse to spread 
Life among the dead. 

Shall we seek for gold 
In the far-off clime, 
And no gems unfold, 

Meet for Courts sublime? 
What can we compare 
With such jewels rare? 



Miscellaneous. 343 

Then, awake! the cry, 
Calling to the fray, 
To the ramparts fly ; 
Ever watch and pray; 
Rest not till each zone 
Its true Lord shall own. 



HYMN. 

DIVINE PLEASURES. 

^T^HY ways are ways of pleasantness, 

X And all thy paths are peace, 

'Mid darkest fortunes do they bless, 

Their springs with time increase. 

World happiness is feverish all, 

Doth restlessness create, 
Upon the appetite doth pall, 

On changing humors wait. 

Thy ways, O Lord, spread calm within ; 

A gentle summertide, 
Devotion quells the power of sin, 

And bids its storms subside. 

Religion's thirst health waters slake, 
Less dim the mental eye, 



344 



Miscellaneous. 

All faculties new being take, 
And hidden gems descry. 

'T is not upon life's smoothest road 

Its' choicest pleasures bloom, 
But where we walk with heaviest load, 

Amid a rugged gloom. 

Thy ways reveal a strong right arm, 

To hold in even pace 
The weaklings whom each lapse doth harm 

In their uncertain race. 

Thy ways are w r ays of pleasantness, 

Sustained by hope divine, 
That point to those who onward press, 

The soul's exhaustless mine. 



PLEASURE. 
^T^HE multitude toward pleasure 

X Their pilgrim foot-steps bend, 
With chaff or empty leisure 

The time that 's loaned them spend. 

The sun that decks the flower 
With beauty's rarest grace, 

When less subdued his power, 
Will all her charms deface. 

So pleasure that delights us 
And cheers 'mid toil and care, 



Miscellaneous. 345 

A cruel despot blights us, 
When we his sceptre dare. 

The floweret while assuring 

Her scent and hue, seeks shade, 

To make life's bloom enduring, 
Should duty send her aid. 

Excess in pleasure's chalice 

Converts its joy to pain, 
While fate as 't were in malice 

Makes joy's return in vain. 

Then envy not the idler, 

With pastime at command ! 
If conscience be its bridler, 

True pleasure is at hand. 

WHY MURMUR? 

WHY murmur at misfortunes that beset this change- 
ful sphere? 
If remedy to meet them should in any way be near, 
Ingratitude must summon retribution to appear. 

If remedy can ne'er be found — to murmur were but 

vain, 
For irritants are thus evoked to aggravate the pain, 
A melancholia shrouding may in time impair the brain. 

It pleases God to chasten man and He knows what is 
best, 



346 Miscellaneous. 

And in the breast of Love is born the direst crucial test ; 
His rod, too, while it smites the one, doth also smite the 
rest. 

The Christian feels, the earthquake and the storm sub- 
serve some end, 

That He who aims the arrow, knows how far the bow 
to bend ; 

Unlike the Stoic does he bow, though grief his soul may 
rend? 



IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY 
MANSIONS. 

TO where the Father's many mansions rise 
The soul released from sin emtombment flies, 
As doves unto their windows when the storm blasts 

sweep, 
Or to their fold the wintry driven sheep. 

The Shepherd Chief prepared these chosen homes 
For each who in this far-off country roams ; 
Who turns, anhungered, from the pastures seen, 
Towards peaceful waters and the living green. 

'T is oft' when tossing to and fro on earth, 
Some noble being finds world-fulness dearth, 



Miscellaneous. 347 

That God who would employ his gifts above, 
Removes him to a mansion decked with love. 

Why toil so late to build a rest below 
When soon the human shrine of each must go? 
While seeking structures reared on shifting sands 
On Christ the Rock be thine, "not made with 
hands." 

On high not few but many mansions loom, 
\nd hence for all that seek them there is room, 
While far beyond man's power to dispossess 
These happy homes Omnipotence doth bless. 

On them no architrave, pilaster, plinth, 
Or varied sheen presents a labyrinth, 
But psychic beauty that can never fade, 
Throughout their angel glories doth pervade. 



THE PRAYER OF AGAR. 

NOR poverty nor riches give to me ; 
From either bane, Oh Lord, I would be free. 
Since brief the harvest I shall reap below 
In due proportion only would I sow. 

Give not a golden chain that binds to earth, 
For rich surroundings may embrace a dearth, 



348 Miscella?ieous. 

And greed usurps affection's silken tie 
'Neath which so many priceless guerdons lie. 

O tempt me not my brother man to slight, 
To cherish the delusion " Might is right," 
To be unmindful that to Thee alone 
Belongs the substance which we call our own. 

And poverty withhold lest I be blind 
To thy just oversight forever kind, 
Or label every other's luck unfair, 
Or yield my soul and body to despair. 

If wealth be mine with fortune's rising tide 

Then may I scatter plenty far and wide ; 

If poverty stand knocking at my door 

May Christ tell me, " Ye always have the poor." 



COINCIDENCE. 

Through the suggestion of Bishop Henry C. Potter, on the oth of June, 1901, 
a banquet was given at the General Theological Seminary, Chelsea Square, New 
York, in honor of five clergymen ordained during the month of June, 1851. The 
names of these were : Philander K. Cady, D.D.; Thomas Gallaudet, D.D.; W. W. 
Olssen, D.D.; William S. Coffey, J. Selden Spencer. The following original 
poem was delivered by Rev. Edward Octavus Flagg, D.D., LL.D. 

HOW passing strange that fifty years from present date 
Five souls in unison with vows should consecrate 
Themselves to God who yet upon his temple wait. 



Miscellaneous. 349 

'T were meet the Church with solemn and with festal voice 
Betoken how with these so blessed doth she rejoice 
That purple and not sackcloth is for us her choice. 

Perchance ye 've gathered laurels in these lengthened years, 
Perchance for food and raiment had but little fears, 
Nay, all that ye might wish this world's success uprears. 

But, ah, those pangs within what words can ever tell, 
Those hidden wounds apostles bore like you as well, 
The scorn that from the unworthy to our Lord befell. 

To short-eyed vision yours perhaps has been a lot 
That on your human aspirations flung a blot 
A temporal Arcady the cleric knoweth not. 

But if ye mainly sought to swell the Christian fold, 
Your earthly portion is a store of gemmed gold, 
The future life, your radiant honors will unfold. 

Ye have not like too many lived for self alone, 

Ye have not set the end of man a narrow zone, 

But striven to shield the right and not the wrong condone. 

As Moses stood on Nebo's famed and wildering height, 
And saw the valley of his prayer and chief delight, 
Ye know how purpose grand dispels eclipsing night. 



35° 



Miscellaneous* 



FROM THE AFGHAN. 



s 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 

BY ABDUR RAHMAN. 

O dwells omnipotency in my God, 

That every other power owns His rod. 



The most revered of saints that man could name 
He reverenced and glorious would shame. 

On no one does my God depend for aught, 
With Him is self-sufficiency inwrought. 

From nothing did all being spring to light 
Through wide producing and upholding might. 

Creator of creation through its bounds, 

He hears each word that in the air resounds. 

The sweetest odors that delight the sense 
He, perfume-maker, doth alone dispense. 

The Builder and the Architect is He 
Of fabrics here or in the world to be. 

Each thought unwritten does His eye behold, 
Each secret in the breast does He unfold. 



Miscellaneous. 351 

The seen, the unseen, and the inchoate 
Upon His cognizance alike must wait. 

Unborn, untold, or things in embryo, 
Familiar with them all my God doth know. 

Without a colleague or associate, 

Within His realm He sits enthroned in state. 

No need, I trow, of other friends have they 
Who on my God their confidence doth stay. 

For safety wherefore should I elsewhere flee, 
When in my house His sheltering wing I see? 

No change in him, O Rahman, do you find, 
For He continues ever in one mind. 



GOD OF WISDOM. 

TO Thy wisdom may I bow, 
Vast Creation's Lord, 
When I pay my morning vow, 

When at night adored ; 
Let me list to Nature's voice, 
In Thy plan like her rejoice. 



352 



Miscellaneous. 

Let me trace how even roll 
Spheres that own Thy law, 

Winds obeying Thy control 
Vapor's sunbeams draw, 

How according to its kind 

Blooms each floweret we find. 

Let me feel this wondrous frame 
Through Thy wisdom lives, 

Which to every mite the same 
Vital function gives, 

Making nations come and go 

As the tides to ebb and flow. 

In Thy book may I perceive 

Counsel's richest mine, 
Words that from all doubt relieve 

Treading paths Divine ; 
May I know that never sage 
Tendered precept like Thy page. 

In my blindness trusting Thee, 

O thou surest Guide ! 
Dread shall at Thy bidding flee, 

Let what will betide ; 
Through the wrong I '11 see the right, 
Darkness best will show the light. 



Miscellaneous, 353 



HEAVEN. 

OWHO would not dwell in that home of the blest, 
, Where after its conflict the spirit has rest ? 
There pleasures untasted by mortals are found, 
And hope's fondest dreams with fruition abound ; 
The song of the Lamb through the ages entrances, 
Which he who awakens its music enhances. 

No eyes become dim and no intellect fades, 
No dart stills a pulse from the region of shades, 
No sigh breathes of sorrow, no terror appals, 
And joy stands obedient when innocence calls ; 
The fountain of youth never ceases its flowing, 
A beauty seraphic its waters bestowing. 

The Dove like a sunrise beams over the land, 

In union encircling the heavenly band, 

He softens the mandate that comes from the throne, 

As South winds the breath of the ice-mantled zone, 

Like notes that are wafted from bird-haunted flowers, 

Are greetings inviting from soul-fashioned bowers. 

But that which appeals to a grief ridden earth, 

Because of departure that leaves such a dearth, 

Is life, though a shadow it seems to our eyes, 

Perfected, transfigured, immortal, will rise, 

And those whom we lay in the dust amid weeping, 

In Heaven we may find who not dead were but sleeping. 



354 Miscellaneous* 



SONG OF LABOR. 

WORK and sing, work and sing, 
Painful care departing, 
Minding not that golden rays 
Toward their rest are darting. 

Speed with song, warp and woof, 

Idleness defying, 
Tuneful like the humming bee 

On its mission hieing. 

Work and sing, work and sing, 
Light each path around thee ; 

Let a brother losing heart 
Joy that he hath found thee. 

List to music in the sky 

From the feathered toiler- 
He doth warble seeking crumbs 
Fearing no despoiler. 

Work and sing, work and sing, 
Hope and zeal the stronger, 

Thus when others cry surcease 
Thou would'st work the longer. 



Miscellaneous, 355 



WORK. 

LABOR, called the curse, 
Oftener proves a blessing, 
Theme of loftiest verse, 

Love's best gift possessing. 

Lethean draught for pain 

Foe to sin besetting, 
For each mortal bane, 

Antidote begetting. 

Scholars deep in lore, 
Farmers at their tillage, 

Those who dig for ore, 
Waste no time in pillage. 

Put this thought on file, 

Classic tongues have told us. 
"All things worth the while, 
By the gods are sold us." 

Seize the fleeting hour, 

Never to return ; 
Mend thy broken tower 

While the embers burn. 



356 Miscellaneous. 



THE WORKMAN'S HOME. 

HOW oft is seen within the dwelling of the poor 
A happy home ; 
'T is found where tidy comfort bids us at the door 
No farther roam. 

Content with gratitude upon the hearthstone sits 

By love's command, 
And social joy at eve from work and care remits 

The busy hand. 

Sobriety and manly toil with ruddy health 

Bedeck the cheek, 
And self-denial leans not on the crutch of wealth 

Enough to seek. 

'T is known where each to all, and all to each, are dear, 

With common mind, 
And friendship, like the evening star, shines bright and 
clear — 

Not gain to find! 

Where honesty becomes a bank of countless gold — 

A diadem — 
A diadem that doth within itself enfold 

A priceless gem. 



Miscellaneous. 357 

'T is known where sound the heart, and clear the eye, to 
trace 

The source of good, 
Upon the widespread smile on Nature's genial face, 

By stream and wood. 

Dive deep, then, workman ; probe the secrets of thy 
breast ; 

Awake the power 
To teach thee how to make the humblest cottage rest 

A fadeless bower. 



c 



CHEERFUL LABOR. 
HEERILY work, brother 



Thus thy toil lighten ; 

Sooner the task will end, 

Hope anew brighten. 
Glow like the sun on his pathway of duty, 
Look like the flower on its mission of beauty. 

Cheerily work, brother, 

Tasks better rounding, 

Thy self-approval all 

Cavil confounding. 
Be like the bird who his happy way winging 
Searching for food through the forest is singing. 



358 Miscellaneous, 

Cheerily work, brother, 

Work was appointed 

By the Great Ruler who 

Labor anointed. 
Blithe like the bee who by gathering honey, 
Symbols the labor that turns into money. 

( Iheerily work, brother, 
( 'licit life of sorrow ; 

Those who are idlers 

Trouble must borrow. 
Be like the sailor whose shout of emotion 
blends with the whistling wind o'er the ocean. 



CONTENT. 

THANK the Giver for thy lot, 
Though 't is quickly spanned 

None can call his own one spot 
Through the sweep of land. 

Why should what can ne'er be thi 1 

Fret the hours away? 
Why for shadows wilt thou pine, 

Making night of day? 

Time and chance to each belong : 
This the wise will see; 



Miscella neons. .359 

Life may sing as sweet a song 
Both for you and me. 

E'en when all earth's treasures go, 

Buoyant hope may spring, 
As the cheerless wastes of snow 

Feathered voices bring. 

Toil thou on with cheerful heart, 

Though unseen a joy ; 
This a blessing will impart, — 

Gold without alloy. 

But, should toil thy powers defy, 

Helpless or in pain, 
If above thou lift thine eye, 

Light will come again. 

All are sitting at a board, 

Each his place allowed ; 
Why should we accuse that Lord 

Who our lot endowed? 

Through content is savor given 

To the plainest feast ; 
Greatest things this potent leaven 

Raises from the least. 

Bidden by contented souls 
From the evermore, 



360 Miscellaneous. 

Comes a stranger that consoles, 
Waiting at the cloor. 

As a castle's sturdy front 
Checks the strongest foe, 

S6 content will bear each brunt 
Hurled by envious woe. 



THE HERO OF CALVE. 

AS rocks defy the stormy wave, 
Young Nelson in the battle stood, 
His vision part destroyed, he gave 

An offering towards his country's good. 

No public journal flaunted high 
The glory that his sword had won, 

Although as banners paint the sky 

Went forth what other swords had done. 

When told how he unplumed was stamped 
With those whose deeds had not been sung, 

How honor's due was foully cramped, 
The press no plaudit having rung— 

In unresentful, modest style 

His secret enemy he met — 
Trafalgar looming, and the Nile, 

He said, " I '11 make my own gazette." 



Miscellaneous. 361 



SHAKESPEARE THE IMMORTAL. 

Delivered at a Dinner given April 24, 1903, by the Avon Club. 

IT pTHIN the garden stood the Tree of Life, 
V V Its growth defended by a flaming sword, 
By Avon's flood a bard put forth his hand 
And through divine permission plucked its fruit ; 
A fadeless wreath thenceforth entwined his brow ; 
And now, though dead, he speaks a living note, 
In harmony with Truth's unerring voice. 
When waked his lyre, doth competition's horde 
In silence listen to the maestro strain, 
And each within his cell doth practice like 
The mocking-bird, but never finds the pitch. 
Dry shod this Moses walks through foaming seas, 
While those who imitate are heard no more. 
His saws bear impress of that Avondrous Book, 
The primal source whence all afflatus spring. . 
Elizabethan, doth he soar beyond his age, 
O'ershadowing all of letters on its page; 
The sacred nine bring trophies to his feet 
In whom so many tides of glory meet. 

O Shakespeare, thou a Universe doth span 
Within the magic compass of thy thought ! 
Where human mind may wander thou dost go, 
Dost reach Empyrean heights, or depths below ; 



362 Miscclla neons. 

Hast deeply drunk of the Pierian spring, 

Hast traversed fields of ancient Greece and Rome, 

Told facts abroad, as well as those at home, 

With all the phases of man's nature versed 

In sympathy throughout the world disbursed ; 

Familiar with the grace of Court and King 

And jest and phrase that in the tavern ring, 

Hast looked below the rind unto the core, 

Hast found the key that opes Philistine's door ; 

Revealed the man himself without pretense, 

Weighed folly in the scale of common sense ; 

Religion's unveiled altar hast disclosed 

And scepticism's subtle blade opposed ; 

Utility's strong bulwark didst sustain 

With ornament where taste could ne'er complain. 

Withal thy genius never ceased to soar 

'Mid regions far above earth's din and roar, 

Where poesie would always wish to dwell 

And free from commonplace would weave its spell ; 

The Sibyl wrote her prophecies on leaves 

While many a fickle blast her hopes deceives, 

But thou didst write upon the heart and mind 

Beyond oblivion's cold and treacherous wind. 

The sailor on the stormy, trackless wave, 

'Mid doubts, relies upon one star to save ; 

And when, perplexed, in many paths we stray 

Thy starry radiance doth illume the way. 

Thou art a tower that at each point doth peer 

While every eye may view thee far or near, 



Miscellaneous. 363 

And thus may poets, basking in thy light, 

Reflect its halo on the reader's sight, 

How better canT round thy gifts sublime 

Than in thy friend Ben Jonson's famous rhyme? — 

Thou art not for a day but for all time. 



HENRY GEORGE. 

INTELLIGENCE and goodness wreathed his brow 
As emblems float upon a great ship's prow ; 
He wore a crown by sacred Genius given, 
Proclaiming leadership from vote of Heaven ; 
A stern rebuke it seemed to idol self, 
That frowned upon the greed for fame or pelf. 

No cringing policy controlled his will, 

Which like a planet must its course fulfill — 

A planet that through untold ages, bright, 

Its destined journey ever holds in sight. 

He seemed to bear a message straight from God, 

That shall not sleep with him beneath the sod. 

Perhaps he thought not, as do you or I — 
Would we compel each soul to seek our sky? 
He nursed the faithful spirit in his breast 
As parent wing a birdling in its nest ; 
Too few such rosy streaks 'mid night appear, 
That sorrow should repress a single tear. 



364 Miscellaneous. 

Weep, stricken multitudes, at life's strange lot, 
And prove that honest worth is ne'er forgot ; 
That only for a time does error sway, 
Browbeating Freedom from its post away. 
Toll on, ye bells, and let a city wail 
Till conscience o'er iniquity prevail. 



GREETING TO PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA. 

ON VISITING THE UNITED STATES. 

THOU genial visitor of noblest crest 
To welcome thee, accept our offering best, 
We know thy coronet befits a soul 
That feels what 's due to man from pole to pole. 
We prize thee more than prince of courtly glare, 
As one with simple royal traits endowed, 
That raised " Our Fritz " above the jeweled crowd. 

Through thee, thy nation do we greet, 

That sturdy Saxon plant whence Albion bloomed, 

Perchance upon our soil wilt many rlowrets meet. 

Thrice welcome, sprung from those of truth most fond, 
Whose word is held as sacred as their bond, 
Of those afield with progress, urged by thrift, 
Whose fruitful aims from apathy uplift. 
In metaphysics chief, with letters, art,— 



Miscella?ieons. 365 

The mind untrammeled, free to act its part, 
Who sought to make religion's loving face 
An unmarred picture of celestial grace, 
A reliquary filled with varied gems, 
That each beclouding influence o'erwhelms. 

Look! Far and wide, O Prince, thy people here, 
Who hold a balance of tremendous power, 
Who pay to citizenship a tribute just, 
Who seem a graft wherein to hope and trust. 

Through this, thy coming, may all nations grow 
To make new light upon the darkness glow, 
May knowledge, law and arbitration rise 
An incense grateful to remotest skies. 



ALFRED THE GREAT. 

KING ALFRED, great in all that makes a man; 
We twine for thee the laurel, wake the song. 
We sigh regrets at thy too brief a span, 
Whose lavish gifts to fruitful time belong. 

Thy life distilled the precious Gilead balm, 

'T was like the fragrant ointment Mary poured. 

Thy wand made faction's stormy billows calm, 
As seas united — Britain's differing horde. 



366 Miscellaneous. 

The mind unfettered and the conscience, too, 
Were signals of the blessings thou didst bring ; 

Didst plant the seed whence law and order grew, 
To make republics royal paeans sing. 

A counterpart of Washington's thy reign, 
Who solved a problem in the lore of state : 

America by birthright owns the twain, 
The Lion and the Eagle join their fate. 

O Saxon glory, fame forever green, 

A thousand summers' bloom rests on thy grave ; 
Yet this inscription through the world is seen : 

Lo ! England's savior, good as he was brave. 

May He, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, 
By leadership like thine His standard rear, 

Till justice, slighted, know her true awards, 
And honesty no homage pay to fear. 



THE WEDDING OF THE HARLEM AND 
THE HUDSON. 

TWO rivers that each other wooed 
Hath consecrated Science wed ; 
Those who to reach progression's altar sued, 
'Mid pageant thither led. 



Miscellaneous. 367 

From old Manhattan's favored isle, 

Begirt by great as smaller craft, 
Impeded Commerce reassured will smile, 

As breezes heavenly waft. 

New Jasons for the golden fleece 

Will venture toward the unknown strand ; 

And savage discord will subside in peace, 
A tribute to our land. 

Cosmopolite far more than now 

Our urban populace shall be, 
And art and wisdom in allegiance bow 

To Merit's jubilee. 



CHARLESTON REVISITED. 

IN South Carolina's palmy days 
'T was first I saw the light, 
When welcomes to the social board 
Were cheered by riches' might. 

In Georgetown was my cradle rocked, 

Where roses scent the air, 
Where rice-fields in abur dance yield 

Their white, nutritious fare. 



3 6 8 Miscellaneous. 

A twelve -month lapsed, when I was borne 

To Charleston for a home ; 
Thence, five more summers having fled, 

I shared a Northern dome. 

And now, the candle burning low, 

The sun within the West, 
I 've come to an ancestral soil 

To ponder and to rest. 

For deep within a thought arose 

To breathe my native air ; 
I felt like wandering birds who would 

To their first nest repair. 

Recurrence sought the Battery, 

The island group before, 
To watch the craft that skim the tide, 

To wonder 'mid its roar. 

I sought to tread that promenade 
Where, on our nation's day, 

The plumage danced and helmets flashed 
'Mid soldiery array. 

A wish revived to trace again 

The churches, Citadel, 
The Orphanage, the classic towers 

That childhood knew so well. 



Miscellaneous. 369 

A whim flew towards those scavengers, 

A licensed, threatening horde, 
Who market nuisances removed, 

Their wages table board. 

It wandered toward a winged police, 

Unto their mission true, 
As though a club were in their claws, 

Their feathery garments blue. 

A fancy woke for groundnut cake 

That turbaned maumas cried, 
Ere glucose made confections cheat, 

And Dixie cookery died. 

Dear city of my budding days, 

I feel at one with thee, 
Since sharing 'midst thy household bands 

A common pedigree. 

May Time's emollient heal thy wound:. 

Make transient all thy tears, 
And health and wealth and happiness 

Console thy future years. 

And may thy youth of noblest line, 

'Bove ashes of thy pyres 
Build structures that will show they sprang 

From Charleston's peerless sires. 



37° 



Miscella?ieons. 



THE MAINE CATASTROPHE. 

SUSPICION sleeps upon the tide, 
A thunder-laden ship beside, 
Whose corps of officers and crew 
Are souls of courage and of thew. 

Amid the quiet of the grave, 
A fiery demon rends the air, 
While vanish spirits of the brave 
'Mid agony and wild despair. 

The tempest might uproot the land, 
The earthquake rock cathedral grand, 
The pestilence and famine creep, 
And helpless toil in sorrow steep — 
Yet not such tears would they command. 

For now is heard unwonted note 
That echoes loud from heart to throat, 
Which like the ocean's restless swell 
Can naught withstand and naught dispel. 

How strange that fortune thus should mock 
Life's reverie with such rude shock ; 
Outwitted reason seems to pause, 
Demanding of Fate's book the cause. 



Miscellcifjeons. 371 

At human projects Fate doth laugh, 

As winds deride the useless chaff, 

Whate'er to us may cruel seem 

Is deep inlaid with Wisdom's scheme. 

Upon some altar vows are paid, 

Not vain this sacrifice is made, 

As light illumes so deepens shade. 

Whate'er the cause let justice act 
With iron purpose yet with tact. 
Let pity come each wound to heal, 
With gold to silence want's appeal ; 
Let finite will invoke His rule, 
Sole teacher in probation's school. 



CENTRAL PARK IN WINTER. 

BENEATH a shroud do Summer visions rest, 
Departed at the Frost King's stern behest ; 
The tropic life within the Zoo immured, 
Pleads silently for homes to which innured. 
The snow bird gayly flits above the scene, 
Unmindful of the icy outspread sheen ; 
With caution does the squirrel feel its way, 
As dearth of provender its footsteps sway ; 
Thus yonder workmen tread as drifts delay. 



372 Miscella?ieous. 

The bronze and stone defy the wintry power 
As did the souls they tell Fate's darkest hour 
The jingling echoes of hibernal sport, 
The curling, coasting, and the rising fort, 
The armored branches creaking to the blast 
By Nature's rivet bind attention fast. 
The Park in Winter may confer delight 
The same as in the summer's glowing height ; 
The grave and gay in harmony combine 
As somber hues of life with joys divine. 



THE SPENCER SCHOOL OF STENOGRAPHY 
AND TYPEWRITING. 

CLICK, click, click, 
Compels my feet to pause ; 
A stenographic band, 
With busy head and hand, 
Are penetrating 

Condensation's laws. 

We hail thee, Light, 

Which in such form doth shine, 

That sends thought o'er the sea 

Through electricity, 

While local space its utterance 
Doth confine. 



Miscellaneous. 373 

This " much in little " 

Erstwhile was known to Greek, 
And Athens' graceful word 
By absent ones was heard, 
As listening when 

The Oracle might speak. 

This power was lost 

In Superstition's night — 
But when Religion's star 
Gleamed through its prison bar, 
Its usefulness again 

Was brought to sight. 

To cheer the truth, 

Stenography's new birth, 
Upon progression's wing, 
Made sons of God to sing, 
And joy and peace 

Revisited the earth. 

Click, click, click, 

Typewriter at thy task, 
And shorthand writer, too, 
To Liberty be true, 
That doth in Learning's 

Ample pastures bask. 



374 



Miscellaneous. 



MOUNT WASHINGTON. 

WHILE looking up thy giddy steep, New Eng- 
land's pride, 
Methought how fit the hero's name to thee applied. 
Not often is thy head by clouds enclosed revealed, 
Resembling his great mind so oft to others sealed, 
Who kept his purpose till reflection's course had run, 
Then oped it to the light like thee before the sun. 

As thou dost stretch above the Presidential band, 
Those peaks so called from other chieftains of our 

land, 
So he, our glorious leader, also towers high, 
The chieftain of the loftiest in our civic sky. 

Thou wakest in each breast a reverential fear, 
The voice of Nature tells the sceptic, God is near, 
Instinctively before thee doth his spirit kneel, 
What argument had failed to teach him doth he feel ; 
Like smoking Sinai thou dost speak a law divine, 
An altar flame upon thy summit seems to shine. 

Thou tellest all to overtop this fleeting show, 
To see beyond each storm and cloud Hope's radiant 
bow, 



Miscellaneous. 375 

To be like Horeb's prophet who was raised above, 
Or Him that from the mountain preached whose name 
is Love. 

Thou sayest that God's mysterious paths we cannot 

know, 
That we must be content with what is seen below ; 
The wind of faith at last will drive the mists away, 
Disclose the mercy and the justice of His sway. 



THE CHARIOTS OF PHARAOH. 

r PHE chariots of Pharaoh 

X The earth astounding spurned, 
As goaded on by hearts aflame 

That for the conflict yearned, 
Whose gilded wheels held on their course 

As true as night to day, 
Whene'er the signal shout leaped forth 

They thundered on their way. 

The chariots of Pharaoh 

By thoroughbreds were drawn, 

By plungers that outvied the wind, 
Like those that ope the dawn 

Whene'er the fabled god appears 



376 Miscellaneous. 

And leaves the dismal sky 

To banish every fevered dream 

And cheer the waking eye. 

The chariots of Pharaoh 

Entombment did await, 
In hopeless depths their pride was crushed 

To punish his foul hate. 
Relentless floods rolled over them 

With horse and warring host, 
And wailing waters long have blushed 

At blasphemy's vain boast. 

Ah, chariots of Pharoah, 

How for your wreck we mourn, 
And for the men misguided who 

So sadly reached their bourne, 
And oh, ye models of the breed 

Job raises to the sky, 
We shed a tear for your sad fate, 

So ruthless doomed to die. 



Miscellaneous, 377 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

NO obelisk salutes the eye, 
A Dynasty to show ; 
No words of blood can you descry, 
A warrior's deeds to know. 

But lo! a shaft upreared to tell 

The people from afar, 
Where all may drink of Freedom's well, 

Where rose its brightest star. 

How calmly dost thou point above 

A world with tumult rife, 
Uplifting to a home of love 

That ne'er has heard of strife. 

Thou tellest of a name that charms 

Wherever truth is known, 
Implanting courage for alarms 

Where tyrants shame their throne. 

On thee we read simplicity 

Within this complex state, 
An absence of duplicity, 

A heart for anv fate. 



378 Miscellaneous. 

Thou biddest us endure the wrong 

By envy's arrow hurled, 
Though defamation poison long 

Within some thicket curled. 

Thou teachest patience 'neath a strain 

That tries the stoutest soul, 
That oft sees labor plied in vain 

When almost at the goal. 

Through thee we see unfettered thought 

The pioneer of light, 
All obstacles become of naught 

As science conquers night. 

Suggestion tells of One who wields 

The destiny of man, 
Who, when He speaks, presumption yields, 

Who makes the rear the van. 

Mount Washington shows Nature's side 

To raise aloft the mind, 
In thee doth art become our guide, 

The nobler life to find. 

If thy instructions mute we heed 
'T will keep our flag unfurled, 

And help those sacred fires to feed 
That unify the world. 



Miscella?ieous. 379 



THE OLD VILLAGE CHURCH. 

CRUDE shapen and quaint it looked down on the 
road, 
Inviting the weary to cast off their load, 
To seek its calm shelter and rest from all care, 
The presence of God and of angels to share. 

There nothing sensational crowded the pew 
With itching ears always intent on the new, 
Nor modes just imported could set up a shrine, 
Their idols o'erthrowing an altar Divine. 

The pulpit conspicuous hung overhead, 

Where high-backed enclosures ne'er dimmed the light 

shed, 
The clergymen children and parents could spy, 
While gallery and organ loft 'scaped not his eye. 

The volunteer choir with generous note 

Sang praise with the spirit as well as the throat, 

While all others present in union would make 

An outburst that caused hardened sinners to quake. 

Upon the broad reading-desk placed side by side, 
Were Scripture and prayer-book like bridegroom and 

bride; 
The surplice was not always quite free from spot, 
Like purest of Christians when vows are forgot. 



380 Miscellaneous. 

If forests were bare and the ice stilled the stream 
Till slumbering earth 'gan of Christmas to dream, 
The footstove was placed before grandmamma's seat, 
And afterwards moved her descendants to heat. 

The "meetin' seed" pungent would oft go around, 
A spice for the drowsy through sermons profound ; 
The sexton who dressed like the parson reproved 
The sly looking youngsters that restlessly moved. 

And sometimes a luncheon from distance was brought 
By those whose devotion was deeply inwrought, 
Awaiting the stroke of the afternoon bell, 
At Sunday School prompt, evening service as well. 

Yet many would linger with friends at the door 
To canvass events of the week gone before, 
Delinquents o'erhauling with critical tongue, 
Protracting their speech till the last bell had rung. 

A memory vivid alone can now trace 
Those scenes so endeared that no time can efface, 
The Church of our fathers— a dream of the past, 
With manners so simple, ah! how could it last? 



Miscellaneous. 381 



THAT OLD SPANISH BELL. 

A bell taken from a monastery in Spain now hangs in the tower of St. John's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, Ellicotville, once the capital town of Cattaraugus 
Co., N. Y. Upon it is an inscription in corrupt Spanish which means, " Hail, I 
am the voice of the angel who on high stands forth, Mary full of Grace. Made 
by me, Bargas, at Malaga, 1708." 

I 

IN Ellicottville hearken! an old Spanish bell, 
For nearly three centuries moulded. 
The days of its call to the monk in his cell 
By legend is quaintly unfolded. 
"Abe Soi La Bos Del 
Angel Quo en Alto Svena 
Maria Gracia Plena." 

11 
'Mid a riot's convulsion 't was hurled to the street 

When freedom 'gainst thraldom revolted ; 
And over the waters it found a retreat, 
In the tower of St. John^s now exalted. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 

in 
'T was offered for sale by a skipper, secured 

As ballast his vessel to steady — 
A vestryman bought it ; from slums where immured, 
For nobler uses made ready. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 



382 Miscellaneous. 

IV 

On Union's proud day boys will climb where it swings 
O'erflowing with zeal for their nation ; 

Enthused by these urchins it leapingly rings, 
Announcing the grand jubilation. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 



And thrice every day was it early decreed 

The angel should sing from the tower, 
Inspiring devotion, the spirit to feed 

A psalm for the Lord of the hour 
"Abe Soi," etc. 

VI 

It summoned to worship when Church, ruled by State, 

Was lured from devout aspiration — 
Recast for just ends, not on kingship to wait, 

Its music is — Christ's toleration. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 



VII 

It rings not the old life, where slumber the dead 

Through fable intelligence stifled ; 
It rings for the new life, where sunlight is shed, 

Nor we of our heritage rifled. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 



Miscellaneous. 383 

VIII 

No more are the words of its pious refrain 

Insulted by Hate's persecution ; 
Mellifluous floats on the welkin a strain 

Accordant with Love's evolution. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 



IX 

But happier dreams does this relic suggest 
Of a country through narrowness gory ; 

The fair Guadalquivir that flows through the West, 
Alhambra, the Saracen's glory. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 



The gay Cavalier, Sefiorita as well, 
Step forth by this pleasant reminder ; 

Its holiday sound wakes Terpsichore's spell 
With castinet click you will find her. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 



XI 

Murillo, Cervantes, and mythical Cid, 

Romance weaving charms in each section, 

Velasquez, and picturesque classic Madrid, 
Appeal to a cultured reflection. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 



384 Miscellaneous. 

XII 

We list to encouragement final to him 
Who a world transatlantic discovered ; 

Whose rude caraval he successful could trim, 
Like foam scattering doubt that had hovered. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 

XIII 

Rare waif, we will cherish thee solemnly tolled 
When grief-stricken moves a procession — 

And also when Cupid his banquet shall hold 
In honor of Hymen's profession. 
"Abe Soi," etc. 

XIV 

Arouse to their duty the cloister and throne, 

To liberty's feast all inviting, 
Whereat may Havana's sweet flavor be known, 

Cuba libre its accents uniting. 
" Abe Soi," etc. 

xv 
Ring out, then ; ring out as a Christmas delight, 

The glories of Easter awaking, 
Ring soft and ring loud as a song in the night, 
Guide heedless ones Heaven forsaking. 
" Abe Soi La Bos Del 
Angel Quo en Alto Svena 
Maria Gracia Plena." 



Miscellaneous, 385 



ON A SOUTHERN CHURCHYARD. 



While sojourning in a Southern city the writer saw in a churchyard the name of 
a friend long since deceased, who was endowed with remarkable gifts of mind and 
person. The following poem was suggested : 



H 



OW startling, and how curdling, lo! graves within a 
town, 

Where business is on fire and where pleasure weaves its 
crown, 
The goblet foaming at the brim with ribaldry and song, 
Where pavements sink and groan beneath the tramping 
of the throng. 



"Avaunt! thou spectral gloom," breaks forth from many 
an untried soul, 
While nervously does age go by enchained to earth's 
control. 
Anon the rattle ceases, and the steeds more lightly tread ; 
The lip of noise is silenced by the finger of the dead. 

To me no dreariness is found where mortals yonder sleep, 
For life surmounts the mouldering clay although per- 
chance I weep ; 
Upon a mossy slab I read " the light of other days," 
A golden dream illumes my soul, inwrought with purest 
lays. 



386 Miscellaneous. 



MY OLD TEACHER. 

NOT Plato in his academic grove, 
Nor Busby in his school at Westminster, 
Nor Arnold as at Rugby he was prized, 
Nor Coit in pedagogy nobly skilled, 
Were more suggestive than the man I sing. 
Like Talbot, though in stature undersized, 
Like Talbot, could his rod spread wide alarm ; 
His light rattan had more conviction far 
Than all the logic that e'er strained the mind ; 
'T was suasion that ne'er failed to move to tears 
If poignancy did not obedience stir ; 
His mode was that belonging to the time, 
And then 't was Solomon's ; objection quashed. 
A palliative was oft by him applied : 
If education's root may bitter seem, 
Its fruits are always sweet"— and this we found, 
As ripening years their harvesting revealed. 

But spite the pungency of learning's rule, 
On memory's fairest tablet is inscribed 
His name whose love surmounted all reproof. 
May evergreens still thrive about his tomb, 
And songster birds respond in groves around 
To notes in cloister of proficiency, 
Where he may know as also he is known. 



Miscellaneous. 387 

God bless the power that trains the young! 

Sublime the trust to mortals given, 

To rescue souls from ignorance, 

From longings stale and downward prone 

Uplifting to ideals new, 

That aids to find the- source of life 

Averting danger from its path, 

Unearthing dark imposture's lair. 

'T is glorious to show how man 

May break the seal of depth or height ; 

Explain mysterious chemistries, 

Or follow navigation's chart, 

How leisure hours may be enriched, 

Reclaiming from vapidity. 

Sustain the teachers of our land ; 
Afford them all their wants demand. 
Not strangers to your offspring's weal, 
You do not wish their rights to steal ; 
And would you from injustice free 
The nursery of Liberty? 
Give highest culture to our kind, t 
The suffrage boon to virtue bind, 
Instructors choose, though they be few, 
To knowledge and religion true ; 
And let "the children first be fed" 
By what is more than meat or bread. 



388 Miscellaneous. 



FAREWELL TO ST. JAMES' CHURCH, WIL- 
MINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA. 



T 



WICE called within my latter years, thy rector's 
place to fill, 



The second summoning was met with cheerful, ready will. 

The twain in wedlock I have joined before thy chancel 
rail, 

Preceded loved ones down the aisle amid bereavement's 
wail, 

Have sprinkled with baptismal rite the bud and bloom 
of life, 

Have brought to Confirmation's seal the vow to breast 
sin's strife, 

The bread and wine distributed to help along the way, 

Where envious darkness hovers near to blot the eternal 
ray, 

Have shared the hospitable board with those thy Courts 
that seek, 

'Mid pastoral rest and duty linked, within the encircling 
week, 

And now, as birds, when winter melts, no longer south- 
ward roam, 

Do I forsake the sunny land to seek a northern home. 

Farewell St. James— within thy walls may peace contin- 
uous reign, 

And one so long endeared to thee, may health bring 
back acain ; 



Miscellaneous. 389 

Thy kindness I shall ne'er forget, a graceful artless power 
Like plants that spring spontaneous in Carolina's bower ; 
The record of a sojourn brief can never be effaced 
For not upon the mind alone, but on the heart 't is 
traced. 



MY FIRST PARISH. 

NORWICH, CONN. 

NESTLING 'mid hills did my first parish lie, 
Scene more enchanting ne'er captured the eye ; 
The trailing arbutus gave promise of spring, 
In search for which childhood's sweet voices would ring. 

Waters divided the landscape in twain — 

Hearts to divide, even oceans were vain, 

Those hearts that were pledged to the work of the Lord , 

Though seeds might be scattered, yet fruit would accord. 

Youth with its fervid devotion I gave, 
Telling of hope that transcendeth the grave ; 
The friendship assured in that formative hour, 
Derided the changes of Time's cruel power. 

Viewing the past— ah! how lonely I stand; 
None but their offspring surviving the band, 
But 'mid such departure my spirit ne'er faints, 
For Christ hath revealed the communion of saints. 



390 Miscella?ieous. 

SONG TO A CLASSICAL RIVER YCLEPT 
HOGG. 

WRITTEN ON REVISITING TRINITY COLLEGE, 
HARTFORD, CONN. 

I SING of a stream very small, but historic, 
Known well in old Trinity's day ; 
Its memory bristling, to me is caloric, 
While steeped in the slough of this lay. 



Its name unpoetic was that of a poet — 

Hogg's tales must each sophomore know — 

'T was given by one of his readers pedantic, 
As if 't were as clean as Scotch snow. 

Though clay deeply tinged with its umber this water 
Which fierce solar rays would deflect, 

Yet heat-driven freshmen like lambs to the slaughter, 
Would plunge, nor till drenched, would reflect. 

Oft near its meandering in divers directions, 
Brain-muddled by Humphry's famed brand, 

The student would lay by his Greek, Conic Sections, 
And dream of soft vows writ in sand. 

A grove academic Hogg's beauty enhancing 

Knew little of nightingale tones, 
From emulous seniors their own thoughts advancing 

With those that oft smelt of dry bones. 



Miscellafieous. 391 

Or, foraging parties, with camp near the river, 
Stole chickens and pulled down a rail, 

When kindling a fire, from neck unto liver, 
Would hash loathing stomachs regale. 

Phi Kappa could tell of this streamlet a story, 

When seeking its banks to commune, 
Of scalps from some rival society gory 

Outscoring its chapter in June. 

Historical Hogg, by so many forgotten, 
With loungers 'neath trees in thy grove, 

Of those now surviving — their senses besotten — 
Who give thee no token of love. 

Old Porcus, flow on with Connecticut blending, 

Dichado thus met A D Phi, 
But, not like thy contact, instead of offending, 

Its touch could all else purify. 

We've stirred this riled liquid from homage to duty, 

A tribute to old Father Time, 
We now shall unbosom a fountain of Beauty 

That sends forth a silvery chime. 

Our Jubilee tells of a pair that were married, 
Well matched in their own native dower ; 

The wife in responsive affection ne'er tarried 
To meet all her partner might shower. 



392 Miscellaneous. 

May both of them grow like the Siamese brothers, 

Combined through a mutual bond, 
While each one intent on the welfare of others, 

Of themselves ne'er be proved the less fond. 

May Trinity find no occasion for blushing 

That we are inscribed on her roll, 
But joy that we ever her glory are flushing 

And silently spread her control. 

Three cheers do we lift for the bride of a past day, 
Three cheers do we lift for her groom, 

And may these stray numbers be never a last lay, 
To heighten her mission or bloom. 

Oh, wedding of silver, be ringing and ringing 

For years that have never been told, 
While happy reunions keep singing and singing 

Refrains for a wedding of gold. 

To Hartford and Trinity shout we a greeting, 
The twain we have cherished of yore, 

A heart gift which not like the heart shall be fleeting, 
But stay like the gold in its ore. 



Miscellaiieous. 393 



LAYING THE CORNER-STONE OF THE 
"MAIL AND EXPRESS." 



REFULGENT Truth unsealed her power 
When angel music waked the hour ; 
That beam was felt mid prison gloom, 

And drooping thought revived its bloom. 
An Iris of Redemption's plan, 

It raised the groveling mind of man. 

11 
The daily journal caught this light, 

A star above barbaric night, 
And, as the sower plants his seed, 

The hungry multitude to feed, 
At palace and at cottage door, 

It scattered seed for mental store. 

in 
Behold, is laid a corner-stone, 

For human rights in every zone,— 
An earnest of defence to State 

From foreign envy, lust or hate, — 
Pledged firmly to exalt His name 

Who gives us freedom, wealth, and fame. 



394 



Miscellaneous. 

IV 

Then let the structure here arise — 
Proportions fair, of goodly size— 

A token of progressive aims 

That hallow all the sacred names 

Of great reformers in each day 

Who point to Truth and lead the way. 



THE OLD LOOKING-GLASS. 

FOR many a year I 've hung 
Upon this crumbling wall, 
And broad reflection flung 
At fire or sunlight's call ; 

The gold upon my frame is dim, 
Each ornament through age is grim. 

Bewitching smiles are wreathed 

By those who visit me, 
Though frequently deceived 
Through fulsome vanity ; 
So charmingly I entertain 
My guests will sometimes long remain. 

Defect, 't is true, may sneer, 

And fond illusion shade, 
But love of self stands near, 

Detraction to evade ; 



Miscellaneous. 

Deformity I 've known this shield, 
The softening fact alone revealed. 

I 've noticed fashion's tide 

Sweep common sense away, 
Then back from folly glide, 
But never long to stay ; 

I 've laughed at many a changing rig, 
High comb and ruff and periwig. 

I 've blushed for courtly dame 

And men of high renown, 
Who with their wealth or fame 
Before me played the clown ; 

They practiced every fancied grace 
Becoming to the form or face. 

Complacency alights 

On beauty's peaceful brow, 
When far beyond all sights 
It ne'er can have enow 

In worshiping some favored line, 
A devotee before its shrine; 

I always tell the truth 

To those who seek my mind, 
And entertain no ruth 
For phiz of any kind ; 

However friend or foe deceive, 
My picturing must ail believe. 



395 



396 Miscellaneous. 

Familiar features come, 

Familiar features go ; 

In other lands are some 

"While weeds o'er others grow ; 
And I within this musty frame 
Reflecting, sought for, hang the same. 

I hope that I shall still 

Be cherished as of yore, 
Not at the sheriff's will 
Be carried from the door, 
An alien household to adorn 
When only to one "manner" born. 



FAREWELL TO MARCH. 

ADIEU, thou bleak, uncivil March, 
L Thy footsteps we will not delay, 
Nor weep that thou art gone away, 
For nature, long so stiff and starch 
Through thy chill spell, 
Shall burst its shell. 

Inconstant thou as courtiers' smiles, 
As sunshine, or as treacherous seas, 
As friends that warm, then quickly freeze, 
Like some foul spirit that beguiles 
With base decoy 
That souls destroy. 



Miscellaneous. 397 

Thy blast confounds with blinding dust, 
While weirdly doors and shutters creak ; 
It comes as though 't would vengeance wreak. 
Tall structures cringe before the gust, 
Wide coasts are strewn 
Where thou hast blown. 

The sturdiest health can scarce withstand 
When least expected bursts thy gale, 
And they whose cheeks are wan and pale 
Must vanish hence at thy command — 
Yet good is thine, 
Doth Faith opine. 



THE GRAVITY OF HUMOR. 

I CO ME to heal and not to trifle, 
On mission serious, sublime, 
From gloom its scepter stern to rifle 
And stay the arrowy flight of time. 

I come to sweeten irksome labor, 
To make the toiling masses smile — 

I come as 't were with lute and tabor— 
Their drudgery forgot the while. 

To make the mourner lighter-hearted, 
Where soul companions fall asleep, 

Who, 'mid his grief for those departed, 
Without my spell would hopeless weep. 



398 Miscellaneous. 

I come a balm for conscience-trouble 
Where guilt brings forth remorseful fruit, 

And resolution's powers redouble 
And self-destruction's bale uproot. 

I come to solace where dejection 

Ensues, some darling plan o'erthrown, 

To warm those chilled by cold rejection 
Where friends through false report disown. 

I 'm welcomed by each group convening 
Where mind expands in social joy, 

'Twixt envious discord intervening 
The sloth of dullness I destroy. 

A silvery thread through book and journal 
I dance like sunbeams o'er a cloud ; 

Truth's shell I break and show the kernel— 
I win the most indifferent crowd. 

Through me the shaft of satire keener 

Its fatal venom I subdue — 
In every field of life the gleaner, 

My wand converts the old to new. 

I flash athwart the gloomy wildwood 
When midnight winds appalling howl, 

Where bravest manhood cowers to childhood, 
And birds have flown and panthers prowl. 



Miscellafieons. 399 

Stern Mars I render less repelling, 

A boon 'mid strife and bivouac— 
Amid the depths of justice dwelling, 

An angel o'er its lurid track. 

Court jester, at my word, gives pleasure, 
Ne'er overawed by proudest throne, 

At will unsealing regal treasure — 
Whence loyalty is wider sown. 

The churl from whose ungenial bearing 

We wish at distance many a mile, 
Is won to altruistic caring 

When I, with some fresh charm, beguile. 

I move on Hope's untiring pinion, 

Keep pace with Wisdom's stately tread ; 

Eclipsing blackest Night's dominion, 
I bloom like flowers among the dead. 



THE BIRTH OF HAPPINESS. 

OUR truest joys on wings of suffering rise, 
That never halt beneath the earthly skies ; 
The stubborn heart obeys the moistening tear, 
When shattered idols mark a pathway drear. 

Night wraps the earth within her sable shroud 
Ere sparkling gems in clusters pierce the cloud. 



4-00 Miscellaneous. 

The husbandman must drive the ruthless share, 
Ere fruitage, rich repays his anxious care. 

'T is oft the bird when dying, sweetest sings, 
And choicest harmony from discord rings, 
Imperial states 'mid wildest throes are born, 
And victory shouts, where shot and shell have torn. 

The home of feasting ne'er such peace bestows, 
As that within a mansion draped in woes ; 
And they who go in sorrow to the fields, 
Return with sheaves the gladding harvest yields. 

A calm and holy joy the sufferer knows, 

That never crowns luxurious repose ; 

A happiness unfelt by him before, 

Comes forth like gold when riven from the ore. 



THE AWAKENING OF SPRING. 

TT ^HEN first the genial breath of Spring, 
\ \ 'Mid city walks enchants the sense, 
What new delight its tidings bring 
That stir emotion's dull suspense! 

It makes us sigh for nature's joys, 

For notes of red-breast, gurgling stream, 

When rarely any ruder noise 

Is blended with the poet's dream. 



Miscellaneous. 40 1 

We long to hear the lowing kine, 

Obedient to the milkmaid's call, 
The breezes soughing through the pine, 

The tinkling of the waterfall. 

When after Winter's lengthened stay, 

The tiresome city walls oppress, 
At least 't will cheer the coming day 

The first Spring token to caress. 

It makes us all forget the past 

That drove us to the pent-up crowd— 

The car, the roystering, and the din— 
Whose roar is constant as 't is loud. 

It leads me to my rustic home 

Where soon the sun will ope the flower, 

While I — beneath the azure dome 

Shall read 'mid growth Omnific power. 



AN APRIL RAIN. 

OH weeping skies, why will ye pour 
To grief libations furthermore, 
Weigh down the flower and drench the earth 
As tyranny oppresses worth? 
The gutters run with brown defilement, 
The birds suspend their sweet beguilement, 



4-02 Miscella?ieons* 

Within their nests they hidden lie 
With longings for an azure sky ; 
The barnyard tribe with drooping head 
From constant peltings shrink with dread ; 
Bedraggled skirts are seized with care 
While anxious scowls deform the fair ; 
Excursions planned are rudely nipped 
Like silken folds untimely ripped. 
The beast reluctant draws its load 
The wheel sinks through the miry road, 
And night protracts its drowsy length 
While home resources lose their strength ; 
More wretched seems toil's monotone 
And more profound the sigh and groan. 
Oh dripping, glowering, heartless day, 
Let sunlight cheer thee with its ray. 
And yet I pause, for through my tears 
The dawn of golden wealth appears. 



THE SHADOW ON THE WALL. 

WHAT is pleasure at the highest 
With forgetfulness of care, 
Crowned by Bacchus or by Cupid 

And its tempting viands rare? 
A surfeit turns to gall, 
'T is a shadow on the wall. 



Miscellaneous. 

What are laurels of the conqueror, 

The plaudit or the smile, 
The poet's bays, the orator's, 

The favored courtier's guile? 
Some trouble may befall ; 
Lo! the shadow on the wall. 

What are nuggets from the Klondike 
With the luxury they feed — 

The gardens and the palaces — 
Ignoring human need? 

Pride's ruin yet may call 

Some deep shadow on the wall. 

The most the world can bring us 
With its subtle meshes spread, 

May come, but it will vanish 
To the regions of the dead. 

The world's chief glory, all 

Is a shadow on the wall. 



THE UNFORGOTTEN. 

TIME'S earlier page reveals a tree, 
An emerald couch, a streamlet near, 
Where oft when lost in reverie 

Would Hope arise, a flattering seer. 

I light the leaden, careworn day 
With views pictorial youth descries 



403 



404 



Miscellaneous. 

Before the evening dims the ray 
At morn apparent to our eyes. 

I note 'mid scenes of varied hue 
A face the mirror of the heart, 

With eyes reflecting heaven's hue 

Whence heaven's sympathy would start. 

Within the volume that I read 

Does memory write to charm the hour, 
But from its gardens would I weed 

All else could I but keep one flower. 

A heavy cloud hangs o'er my dream 
That with the lifelong years will stay ; 

If softened by some casual beam 
'T will only cheer an April day. 



THE HEARTH-FIRE. 

WHENE'ER the frost king rules the night 
Upon the snow-clad height, 
An even-song of crackling log and blaze 
Revives the notes of long-forgotten lays. 

Thick visions glow in lambent joy 

Of youth and maiden coy, 

With ripe suggestion to poetic mind, 

While e'en prosaic, kindling fancies bind. 



Miscellaneous. aoc. 

The spirit, deaf to outer blast 
That strips the bough of leaf and mast, 
Released from earthly care is lost in dreams 
Surpassing those of June 'mid groves and streams. 



ADVENT. 

AWAKE, awake, bid darkness vanish, 
Let the Light of Lights pervade, 
Evil from its stronghold banish, 
In thy weakness He will aid ; 
See judicial torch ablaze 
Strive to meet his searching gaze. 

Awake, awake, the fallen cheering, 
Broken vessels making whole, 

Through His merciful appearing 
Lost, neglected seek the goal ; 

Judgment like an iceberg felt 

'Neath His smile at once shall melt 

Awake, awake, ye sacred teachers 

On a near or distant shore, 
Humble officers or preachers 

He invites Who taught the poor; 
List the Baptist's warning cry 
Harvest ready bids thee hie. 



406 Miscellaneous. 

Awake, ye all, your homes He gave you, 
Welcome should ye give to Him, 

He inviting Who would save you, 
Gird your loins, your lanterns trim ; 

Turning darkness into day, 

Jesus comes, prepare the way. 



WAR. 

A BLOODHOUND art tnou fierce, 
That laps the gory earth, 
And spares not age nor youth. 
Thy tooth doth traffic pierce, 
Transforming wealth to dearth. 

Thou art a fatal mine 

That sports with human life ; 
And God who frowns on strife ; 

Through thee doth beauty pine, 
Deformity made rife. 

The shrieks and groans that rise 
From wide dismantled fields, 
Where grain no harvest yields, 

Invade angelic skies, 

Where love the scepter wields. 






Miscellaneous. 407 

From thee 'mid cloistered shade 
Doth learning hide its head, 
While art's choice flowers are dead, 

And from the peaceful glade 
The song of mirth has fled. 

Vast sepulcher of hope : 

Lo! woman at the bier; 

The orphan's blinding tear, 
The scattered bands that grope, 

The timid crushed with fear. 

Thy pomp, taxation feeds, 

Monopoly entails, 

Till public virtue fails ; 
Unnumbered are thy greeds, 

When ruin all assails. 

Alas! thou War wilt glower 

With sword and shot and shell, 

Grief's monody to swell, 
Till Arbitration's power 

Thy frenzied blast shall quell. 



408 Miscellaneous. 

OLD HOME WEEK POEM PUBLISHED AT 
NORWICH, CONN. 

LIKE doves unto their windows 
We hie from many a strand 
To visit the old homestead 

And join a soul-knit band, 
To muse on nature's glory, 

In fashioning a town, 
To add our hearty tribute 
To merited renown. 

Thou garden of New England, 

With welcome and good cheer, 
Where riches grow with virtue 

And plenty crowns the year, 
Where grand historic tokens 

The loyal past bestrew, 
We all obey thy summons 

And broken ties renew. 

We pilgrims on life's journey 

Would pause and rest awhile 
Beneath thy shades, dear Norwich, 

And share thy verdure's smile, 
Would clasp the hand of friendship 

We thought no more to greet, 
Revive again a youthful dream, 

That charmed the hours so fleet. 



Miscellaneous. 409 

May peace and joy in halo 

Illuminate thy brow, 
As doth September's sunlight 

Reveal thy beauty now. 
May principle deep planted 

Maintain its golden sway, 
Help drive the car of progress 

Throughout eternal day. 



THANKSGIVING DAY. 

OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY. 

"T^ IS oft I draw the curtain from the cycles gone before, 
X When wide upon its hinges hung the hospitable door, 
An invitation given to the rich or to the poor. 

When no unsocial coterie excluded as unclean 
The wight whose purse or personnel did not to theirs ca- 
reen, 
Unworthy sure a Christian thus a brother to demean. 

When feasts were not embroidered with deceptive Gallic 

names 
That often at the present day a Jonathan inflames, 
Who sees reflection shadowing the kitchens of our dames. 

When appetite did not depend on alcoholic goads 
That seriatim it might hasten undecyphered loads 
To gastronomic conflict in their unprepared abodes. 



4 1 o Miscella?ieous. 

When good substantial dishes were familiar to each guest 
Whose knowledge of a foreign tongue no menu put to 

test 
To ascertain what palate or digestion might deem best. 

In some colonial mansion with its legendary lore, 
Would I again could taste the food of nature as of yore, 
Surrounded by a fellowship with soundness to the core. 

How fragile is the evidence in this our mammon day 
That hospitality means more than wealth's or pride's dis- 
play, 
If welcomes do not underlie, but empty its array. 

Though guest-chamber with trappings rare, the stalled ox, 

choicest wine, 
May show, beyond the glare of gems its purity may 

shine, 
Yet e'en where poverty doth gnaw 't will beam a spark 

divine. 

As sunlight gives its color to the tulip and the rose, 
Its wand transmuting gloominess to joy where'er it goes, 
Thus Christian hospitality its virtues will disclose. 

In every smiling circle doth its potency appear 

When public thanks are rendered for the mercies of the 

year, 
The Christ of Cana gladdening again the earthly cheer. 









Miscellaneous. 4 1 1 

Though lights are fled and shadows now recurrent musings 

greet 
Of those conjoined in breaking bread who erstwhile used 

to meet, 
Yet when I draw the curtain Marah's waters change to 

sweet. 



THANKSGIVING. 

THANK God if He has given thee wealth, 
Devoid of this — perchance for health. 
If neither wealth nor health be thine, 
Give thanks that light from home doth shine. 

If poor and ill and homeless, too, 
Give thanks for what remains to you. 
Nay, e'en of all but life bereft, 
Thank God that power to thank is left. 



THANKSGIVING. 

LO ! New England's genial ray 
Greets us on this festal day, 
When the leaves by Autumn blown 
Vanish as the loved have flown, 
And our grateful vows ascend 
Towards creation's Harvest Friend. 



412 



Miscellaneous. 

Think of Him Who said the poor 

Shall ye have for evermore. 

Think of those unwarmed, unfed, 

From whose dwellings hope has fled, 

And as Mercy gave to you 

Ye should give when want may sue. 

Muse on this arena ours, 

Stocked with fruits and gemmed with flowers, 

Where reward on tillage waits 

Like a servant at its gates, 

And how serfdom's chain is broke, 

Mind nor body 'neath its yoke. 

Ponder how like spheres above 
Which from centers never move, 
While abroad dissensions ring, 
To our even course we cling, 
How unmoved we onward go, 
Like 'mid storms the tides that flow. 

Think of blessings such at hand, 
God has showered on our land ; 
Thus a savor will be given 
To each feast, direct from heaven, 
And those now within the vail 
Will your grateful spirit hail. 



Miscellaneous. 413 

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. 

WHY hail the group as holidays above frost's touch 
a spell ? 
Are they so called from feathery flakes of regions pure 

that tell ? 
Or tonic air with jingling flights along the fleecy track, 
Or childhood's friend o'erladen with love-tokens at his 

back ? 
Does joy suggest a sportful word because of feastings rare, 
Of gleesome souls that gather to partake of home's best 

fare ? 
Or else because of youth unchained upon the frozen 

stream, 
All fancies on the human side that crowd the Christmas 

dream ? 
As holidays these genial hours would never know the 

name 
If "i" might not a "y" be writ, revealing whence they 

came. 



THE PRANKS OF VERSE 

IN protean antics verse has dealt from time of its be- 
ginning, 
Whose lead do poetasters dog, beyond its margin sinning. 
The pride of letters, Avon's bard, his era deeply tinctured, 
While far adown time's corridors his halo bright has 
cinctured. 



414 Miscellaneous. 

But ne'er had epoch like to ours such heads of inspira- 
tion, 

Affording imitation scope for verse's degradation. 

Much farther does the faddish ring in wild excursions 
travel 

Than common sense or any sense can usually unravel. 

Some novel master stuns the land, from one end to the 
other, 

As fogs enshroud that misty country oft yclept our 
Mother. 

The monthly oft shows rhythmic puzzles woven by each 
gender, 

And he who dares to criticize grieves Fashion, their de- 
fender. 

Elizabethan songsters, also those of later feather, 

As Tennyson or Longfellow, are chained by faddish 
tether, 

The unfledged climbers of such school must be their own 
admirers, 

The market for their slighted wares obtains but few in- 
quirers. 

True, Kipling's horn blew clouds away that dimmed the 

beams of fancy 
Had many copyists, you know, because he was so dancey, 
Whose readers, saving local hits, found no great lets in 

probing. 
Yet he to ragtime furnished trend, the classical disrobing. 



Miscellaneous. 4 1 5 

What curio will next surprise, the commonplace for- 
saking, 

In research mid the tombs of thought through heathen 
archives raking ? 

What new bell-wether leap the wall that echo's troupe 
will follow, 

As readily, unerringly, as Summer tags the swallow. 

Suppose we oftener seek that fount to purest taste be- 
guiling, 
That well of English undenled, no fads ephemeral riling, 
Let genius dip its pen within those sources never failing, 
Since Shakespeare facile princeps yet triumphantly is 
sailing. 

The sister arts are plain to light, although they are ideal, 
And if they float in nebulae do ne'er forsake the real, 
As through the vapor dense and dark we know the great 

orb beaming. 
Minerva's face should not be hid through all the Muse's 

dreaming, 

The simple language of the Word should frame the poet's 

motto, 
As pure as unpolluted streams that lave the hidden grotto, 
They issued from the sea of glass reflecting heaven's 

glory, 
A fitting conduit of the thought that fires its matchless 

story. 



4i 6 Miscellaneous. 



THE SUN'S MESSAGE 

" AWAKE, thou tardy sleeper," 
Xjl Thus speaks the Sun at dawn, 
To sower and to reaper, 

It bounds from peak to lawn, 

Bids dullness turn to shining, 
Since darkness shrouds the earth 

And mind for light is pining 
As sap for floral birth. 

To misanthropic moping, 
It says, thy gloom suppress, 

Let faith be ever hoping, 

Thus cheer — not fan distress. 

And let my daylight sift thee, 
Each mote present to view, 

That cleanly I may lift thee 
To face more searching view. 

Let toil be ever thriving, 

That harvest homes may spread, 
Let early constant striving 

Reclaim each interest dead. 



Miscellaneous. 417 

And warm the heart that freezes, 

Where timid spirits shrink, 
And ward off icy breezes 

From suicidal brink. 

Let prayer spread wide her pinions, 

Beyond remotest height, 
To where from Love's dominions 

Sprang forth "Let there be light." 

And never c^ase thy beaming, 

Illume, console, exalt, 
Until the last ray's gleaming 

Forsake the azure vault. 



DEDICATORY. 



DEDICATORY. 



TO THE APPLE. 




HOU tempting fruit, 

Our mother didst compel 
Through envious suit 
To own thy fatal spell, 
And cause like rain unhappy tears to flow, 
Transforming paradise to scenes of woe. 

Thy golden charms 

That place adorned 
Wherewith alarms 

A dragon loud forewarned, 
When rash intrusion braved the haunts of Love 
To Hera consecrated and to Jove. 

Thou hast of yore 

Been worshipped in the wild ; 
Thy valued store 

O'erawed the forest child. 



422 Dedicatory. 

Whenever we perceive thy surface bright, 
Supreme beneficence is brought to light. 

God valued much 

Thy worth, since thou alone 
No hand could touch 

Unpunished from His throne. 
Hence, meet to things most precious should apply 
That Scripture phrase, " the apple of thine eye." 

The grape, the plum, 

The orange, and the pear 
Are overtopped 

By thee with products rare ; 
For thou a nameless longing dost relieve, 
Like that which in the garden mastered Eve. 

I see thee now 

As when in youth on high 
Upon the bough 

Or on the ground hard by ; 
Oh, I would feel as when thy flavor kind 
Ambrosial came to body and to mind. 

A type thou art 

Of friendship tried and true, 
Of brain and heart, 

Of what is ever new, 
Of solid comfort and the olden time, 
All hallowe'en that spoke the wedding chime. 






Dedicatory. 423 

Thou art a friend 

To each New England home, 
Her sons defend 

Thy worth where'er they roam. 
Thy juice expressed to them seems choicer far 
Than best of liquids that our reason mar. 

Live on to cheer 

The winter evening long, 
With nuts and cider near, 

While float the jest and song: 
At every Christmas and Thanksgiving board 
Be not abashed amid the daintiest hoard. 



EPITHALAMIUM. 

TO THE RIGHT REVEREND AND MRS. HENRY C. POTTER. 

THE miter and the ring combine, 
Eternity their note, 
What emblems seal those vows divine 
That from the altar float. 



The soul is sad until its mate 
Through mists of time it sees, 

When urged by feeling duplicate 
To gain its own it flees. 



424 Dedicatory. 

May yours forever be the tie 

That binds two hearts in one. 
If so, beneath this lower sky 

Is fadeless joy begun. 

The cypress and the willow ne'er 

Can chill the happy hours, 
For ye shall feel the passing year 

But draws to angel bowers. 

And, though mature, by wedlock bound, 

'T will not less valued seem, 
The riper fruitage may be crowned 

With more than love's young dream. 

The wings of Cupid must be clipped 

By reason's sober shears ; 
The nuptial bud will else be nipped, 

Its joy dissolved in tears. 

With chalice beading at the brim, 

I pledge your coming fate, 
Its sails may our great Captain trim 

Till anchored at the gate. 

May Love's bright torch make darkness light 

Upon each hidden way, 
Till distant hills shall cheer the sight 

Where shines the perfect day, 



Dedicatory. 425 

TO A YOUNG ACTRESS. 
(daughter of a clergyman.) 

FAIR Thespian maid, of hopeful fancies, 
Listed in the drama, — life, 
Upon the mimic stage may chances 
Aid thee in thy worthy strife. 

May genial welcomes greet thy coming, 

Mindful of thy tender years, 
And may thy record's final summing 

Be but little dashed with tears. 

Remember that thou hast a calling 

Hallowed by great Shakespeare's name, 

And let it keep thy foot from falling; 
Purify the breath of fame. 

Though heeded not, on every actor 

Rests the fortune of his art. 
If conscious thou art such a factor 

Better wilt thou play thy part. 

Then what though years shall gather o'er thee, 

And the bloom of youth shall go, 
With grand ideals held before thee, 

Thou canst shine in Art's best slow. 



426 Dedicatory. 



TO AMHERST. 



MINERVA, queen-like, on a dais rare 
Doth proudly sit, 
While tutelary hills with loving care 
Her reign befit. 



No dissonance disturbs the student life — 

A Plato here 
Might choose to walk with weighty problems rife 

A state to rear. 

Mount Holyoke and Mount Tom arise 

Not far away, 
To point from mundane charms to Psychic skies 

'Mid passion's sway. 

The School of Agriculture sheds its light 

On those who fain 
The source of earthly laws would wrest from night, 

An endless chain. 

Hence youth goes forth equipped for manly toil 

In every sphere — 
To overcome the workshop and the soil 

Through paths made clear. 



Dedicatory. 427 

Upon the campus spread, the old halls stand, 

Where scope more wide 
Is given to Education's band 

On classic tide. 

The roll of honor, minds the first have graced 

That grow above — 
Illustrious sons far o'er their fellows placed 

Below now move. 

O lovely Amherst, mayst thou live to know 

Thy dreams all met, 
May use with beauty through thy gardens flow, 

Thy sun ne'er set. 



TO MR. FREDERICK A. TALMAGE. 

PRESIDENT OF THE SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 
Extract from a poem delivered on the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Societyr 

ONE skilled with the gavel a sceptre might grace ; 
Thy baton proclaims thou hast well filled thy place. 
Thy office long borne has our confidence won 
Like that of the stars in their leader the Sun. 
A facile princeps so well hast thou proved, 
Like the famed Charter-Oak, thou hast never been moved. 
Thy family crest, by a verdict divine, 
Is deeply engraven in Liberty's line, 



428 Dedicatory. 

Emblazoned with principles dear to the soul, 

Where mercy and justice in union control — 

Those principles planted, have grown a vast tillage, 

Bestrewn as by magic the city and village, 

Sent argosies daring the limits of ocean, 

Made work seem but pastime through spur of devotion. 

Massed storage of power, to muscle allied, 

That wildest conceits of the past have outvied ; 

Unfolding the purpose of Heaven's decree, 

To bless a dominion where all are made free. 



GATHERING WILD FLOWERS. 

ON Lawrence Beach, where lark and gull are soaring, 
And waves are softly murmuring or roaring, 
I see thee, maiden, 'mid the wild flowers dancing, 
Their artless witchery thy soul entrancing. 
The prizes that are welcomed by thy hand 
Despoiled no growth upon forbidden land. 
These floral gems enameling the waste 
May nod assent to any passing taste. 
Lo, golden-rod and sweet briar how they smile, 
That they some dainty boudoir may beguile. 
Beware of serpent coil or insect bane, 
Lest pleasure writhe beneath the fang of pain. 
Yet, gather flowers where allowed to glean, 
Inhale their perfume tints amid the green, 



Dedicatory. 429 

Pluck happiness from all God blesses in this world, 
Whatever shaft by morbid gloom be hurled, 
If He permit, His creatures may enjoy, 
Provided sense from duty ne'er decoy. 
Be merciful where sin hath reaped in tears, 
And seize the good where'er its germ appears. 
These flowers that thou gatherest thus below, 
May bloom again with amaranthine glow. 



REPLY TO ALFRED AUSTIN'S GREETING 
TO AMERICA. 

WE hail thee, Poet Laureate, 
Extending freely hand for hand ; 
Our brethren through this union great 
Responsive to thy spirit grand. 

The voice of letters greeting gives 
Through English undemed, that deep 

Within the classic bosom lives, 

And hallowed time shall fadeless keep. 

Religion pours a gentle strain, 
Whose keynote is akin to thine ; 

Humanity, the sweet refrain, 

Goes forth to thee on wings divine. 

The shade of Webster hovering near 
Salutes thy nobler men of state, 

Who, ever with a vision clear, 
Could prophesy a nation's fate. 



4 3 o Dedicatory. 

For England with its cheer and mart, 
And humor of the Emerald Isle, 

And Scotia, land of nerve and heart, — 
We wear the same fraternal smile. 

May Britain and ourselves delight 
To conquer armaments of wrong, 

And wield the battle-axe of right 

That makes the warrior threefold strong. 



TO DEAN AND MRS. EUGENE A. HOFFMANN, 

ON THE DAY OF THEIR GOLDEN WEDDING. 
On the fly-leaf of a copy of the author's poems. 

* r 1 A IS seldom two in holy nuptials bound 

X Attain such envied goal, 
Who weather beetling capes, nor run aground 

Where tempests oft control. 

Great cause have ye to render thanks to Him 

Who arched your way with blue, 
Sent gales to which your canvas ye could trim, 

Fierce breakers lost to view. 

More smiling than the azure dome above, 

More favoring than the breeze, 
The roof-tree that embosoms wedded love 

Whose accents ever please. 



Dedicatory. 43 

May ye, preserved throughout the voyage of life, 

To tread a golden shore, 
Sail on to where no wrecks nor storms are rife, 

Nor reef nor shoals before. 



TO THE MISSES EDDY. 

A TUNEFUL TRIO. 

LO, Sisters three, 
In harmony — 
Their music sweet 
Moves heart or feet. 

The waves of sound 
Whose tones rebound 
From their full store 
Oft wake encore. 

When friends unite 
'Neath festal light, 
They shield from harm 
The social charm. 

When choirs rejoice 
With sacred voice, 
They lend their gift 
Towards heaven to lift. 



432 Dedicatory. 

Cecilia's fire 
Their souls inspire, 
From heaven her strings 
Gave echo wings. 

Whate'er they play 
If grave or gay, 
With pure intent 
A boon is sent. 

Their willing hands 
Meet home demands, 
Each glad to share 
Its drudge and care. 

May they still grow 
With art aglow, 
Till chosen flowers 
In music bowers. 

And when amain 
They float a strain, 
May chords divine 
With theirs entwine. 



Dedicatory. 433 

TO FRANCES MARION MILLER. 

AN INFANT. 

CHARMING bud of promise, 
With bright eyes, meaning nose, 
With pink and white and violet, 
Which three thy hues compose, 

Thou comest like a sunburst, 

A dimpled, laughing stream, 
With coral lips inviting, 

Thou sprite, thou poet's dream! 

May some most favored cherub 

On thy horizon shine, 
A Vesper star above thee, 

With radiance divine, 

To watch thy future pathway, 
To lead o'er steep, through wild, 

To guard from every pitfall, 
Thou loved and lovely child ! 



434 Dedicatory, 



IN MEMORY OF LIONEL CHALMERS NOWELL. 

A tribute to a Southern soldier who, while endeavoring to assist a wounded com- 
rade, was taken prisoner. 

ON every noble life faith yearns to dwell, 
Like mist-bound voyager hearing signal-bell ; 
All excellence gives optimism hope, 
Reform takes courage at its wider scope. 

Let winged sentry guard the soldier's rest, 
Such words belong to Bravery's behest, 
For tenderness he bore 'mid warfare's heat 
That would the cause and not the foe defeat. 

A manly man was traced upon his mien, 
A courtesy devoid of falsehood's sheen ; 
He needed not the glamour of a crest 
To prove him of heredity the best. 

At pure affection's or at justice' voice 
Self -hid from view, that others might rejoice ; 
Like flowers in shade or gems within a cave 
Glowed charities in modesty he gave. 

Wherever duty poured a clarion strain, 

Her notes by -him were never heard in vain, 

That Conqueror sustaining on the road, 

The Watchword of the Christian and the Goad. 



Dedicatory. 435 

No pain subdued a calm and trustful soul 
Within the orbit of divine control ; 
His cheerfulness, a buoy above grief's tide, 
To every sinking heart new strength supplied. 

His radiant virtues blooming to the last, 
Inspire the future and console the past ; 
May day refulgent smile upon his sleep, 
And eventide more fondly o'er him weep! 



IN MEMORY OF 
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN W. PHILIP. 

NO braver spirit e'er was found 
Upon the land or on the water, 
No gentler voice to heal the wound 

That duty gave in war's dread, slaughter. 

Behind the fiercest tempest's rage 
A smile for good is always beaming, 

And so in battle's direst stage 

With him the light of love was gleaming. 

While stricken foemen yielded breath 

He checked the victor crew when cheering, 

Reminding of the gates of death 

That they unsolaced then were nearing. 



436 Dedicatory. 

Cornelius-like or Havelock, 

In triumph's hour went forth thanksgiving, 
His soul equipped for every shock, 

The Lord's when dying or when living. 

Asleep he rests with laurels green 

That snatched from danger's field have clus- 
tered, 
Till trumpet notes shall change the scene 

And patriots from their graves are mustered. 



QUEEN VICTORIA. 

IN MEMORIAM, AMERICA'S SYMPATHY. 

A FLOOD of grief now surges through the land, 
A grief that joins with Albion's mourning band. 
'T is not that Saxon blood is in our veins, 
Uniting us with friends in her domains, 
'T is not because our language is the same 
That lends to English letters noblest fame ; 
It is that Britain's queen has taken flight 
Who strove with us to lift from groveling night 
The burrowing mind that fain would shun the light. 

We grieve that dynasty should know such break, 
Far-reaching hope of nations now at stake, 
And then we mourn for one whose Empress-power 
Could never make her blind to nature's dower, 



Dedicatory . 437 

Who though her scepter widely ruled the earth 
Was simple as a child of lowly birth ; 
We mourn one regal in her daily life, 
And conscientious in the open strife, 
Whose simple majesty ne'er failed to win, 
Who struck a note that made the world akin. 

We mourn one loyal to the throne above, 
Whence came the subjects' fealty and their love. 
Her crown was token of a self-ruled queen, 
'T was not a bauble to be shown and seen. 
Upheld the golden rule, another's right, 
Nor yet regardless of the sovereign might, 
The true apotheosis for her meed — 
Not that inspired by vain ambition's creed — 
A monument that gratitude uprears, 
Bedecked by love, with bloom of coming years. 



DIVERSITY IN UNITY. 



TO THE CONFERENCE ON CHURCH FEDERATION. 

YE constant lamps on high, a band of brothers, 
How justly ye regard the claims of others, 
While round one light 
Do all unite. 



We read inscribed on every earthly creature, 
Though widely differing perchance in feature, 



438 Dedicatory. 

A common hand 

This framework planned. 

How many-hued the minds of every nation, 
As if defying hopes of correlation, 

Yet central sway 

Do most obey. 

So all the creeds whatever their complexion, 
Should be a unity in one direction, 

Like branches twine 

On Love's True Vine. 

'T were best the non-essential change to cinder 
E'er strife religion's federation hinder, 

'T is Christ alone 

Builds union's throne. 



TO THE REV. W. N. DUNNELL, D.D., 

FOR 34 YEARS RECTOR OF ALL SAINTS CHURCH, 
ON ITS 8 1 ST ANNIVERSARY. 

'A /FID aliens, thou with struggling flock, hast been a 

1VX. shepherd long, 
Like John within the wilderness, who cried against the 

wrong, 
Or like a lonely light-house, where opposing billows 

throng. 



Dedicatory. 430 

Thou heedest not the voice of Time that bids thee to the 
calm, 

A home where wounds of lengthened toil may find a rest- 
ful balm ; 

Art looking only for repose of such as bear the palm. 

A lesson dost impart to those who languish in despair, 
Because far off may seem the goal whose honors they 

would wear; 
Dost teach the future to improve, the broken past repair. 

The fruitage of thy fervent zeal may not appear to thee, 
No more than evolution's growth beneath the land and sea, 
Yet harvest-time will show its bloom, as flowers light the 
lea. 

Each stroke upon the passive stone in Beauty's form will 

tell, 
Its language unmistakable progression's tongue will spell, 
Its children may their thirst allay within Truth's deepest 

well. 

Mankind was sent to build a work upon this earthly shore, 
And lack of opportunity or means should we deplore ; 
If we but do the best we can, 'twill grace the evermore. 

'Tis said when consecrated gifts are brought in Jesus' name 
The boon is not for man alone, but He receives the same, 
If so each heartfelt Ministry should hope 'mid praise or 
blame. 



44° Dedicatory. 

I trow those gone before us are now watching at the gate, 
Are bidding thee and every soul in this uncertain state 
To weary not in doing well — to labor and to wait. 

Mayst thou enjoy immortal fame, in highest sense to 

know 
Not that which burns to-day a flame yet like a flame may 

go, 
But that renown All Saints have sought with righteous 

deeds aglow! 

And mayst thou with thy partner in each mutual effort 

sing 
As rivulets in summer time or birds upon the wing, 
For no alloy seems hidden in your recent wedding-ring! 

SELF-DENIAL. 

Every day some wee denial, 

Practice with a ready will, 
Taste of Life's good things a little, 

Scarcely ever take your fill. 
Should imprudence vex a function 

Then attack the point involved 
Like an anchorite abstaining 

'Till the ailment be dissolved. 
Then resume your wee denial 

Let excess be never known, 
'Till in time, a rising balance 

Reach unto a normal throne. 



Dedicatory. 441 



MARCH ON, MARCH ON, AMERICA ! 

March on, March on, America, 

And girdle Justice to thy fame ; 
Send forth on Ocean's broadest sweep 

The blessings woven in thy name ; 
Wherever tyranny has birth 

Uproot the baleful weed from earth 
And ever blazon in the van 

For God and for the rights of man. 

Let science make thy pathway clear 

And art with beauteous garlands wreathe 
While traffic's car uncurbed shall roll 

And peace o'er bounteous harvests breathe. 
Surmounting war let love prevail 

That weeps to hear its tragic tale. 
Let reason build thy ramparts mild 

By dullness felt in rudest wild. 

O country dear from holiest ties 

Lives one who would not thee preserve? 
Our noble state, our rock-built home 

From thy allegiance none can swerve. 
We '11 pray for thee, we '11 live for thee, 

Within whose borders all are free, 
The birds and floods their paeans wing 

And shall not we thy virtues sing? 



442 Dedicatory. 

The farmer left his plough of yore 

While brazen-throated cannon told 
A dream of nations in the past 

That crimson letters now unfold. 
Let patriot numbers stir the breast 

Nor give the traitor's conscience rest, 
Till wakened by the exultant voice, 

Shall slumbering hills and vales rejoice. 

May Providence, whose heavenly notes 

Announced the coming of thy dawn, 
Be woo'd to keep its favors fresh 

As dewy tints that paint the lawn. 
May every effort prove in vain 

Which secretly would mar thy reign, 
And may each own, with one accord, 

Not man thy ruler, but the Lord! 






24 1906 



